CEFR in Practice: Promises and
Problems
Languages in Higher Education 2010 Conference: Raising
the Standard for Languages
1-2 July, London
Bahar Gün, İzmir Ekonomi Universitesi
Alessandra Corda, Leiden University
Outline
• Introduction
• How do we know that the promises of the
CEF really work?
• Problems:
– How do teachers correctly assess students’
performance with the CEF?
– How can you train teachers in using the CEF?
The CEFR, what is this exactly?
• A framework for language learning,
teaching and assessment
• Council of Europe, 2001: large document
(264 pag .)
• Aim: more transparency and
comparability
• Six competence levels
The CEFR competence levels
A1
A1, illustrative scale for overall spoken
interaction
A2
Can interact in a simple way but
communication is totally dependent on
repetition at a slower rate of speech, rephrasing
and repair. Can ask and answer simple
questions, initiate and respond to simple
statements in areas of immediate need or on
very familiar topics
B1
B2
C1
C2
B2, illustrative scales for vocabulary range and
vocabulary control
Has a good range of vocabulary for matters
connected to his/her field and most general
topics. Can vary formulation to avoid frequent
repetition, but lexical gaps can still cause
hesitation and circumlocution
The Context
• An English medium university
• Twelve hundred students in the
preparatory year
• A hundred plus English language
instructors
• A new modular approach to course design
• A “Gateway” exit test to the next level
Why Assessment Tasks?
• From summative assessment toward a
more formative approach
• Encourage learning through feedback
The Process
•
•
•
•
•
Input to output
One afternoon, twice a module
Individual feedback slots
Written feedback
Referral to Self Access Centre
What do our students think about AT feedback?
Informal feedback on AT feedback with four DST (Mod 3, March 2010)
students, three who attended group feedback, one who did not
What did you find useful about feedback?
Student 1 I like your comments sheet. I noticed my mistakes.
Student 3 Writing again helped me to learn
One of you wrote your text three times. Two of you wrote your texts twice,
after I pushed you a bit!
Student 3 Doing feedback in a small group was very nice. It should be like
this.
Student 1 Working face to face with the teacher is good.
Student 2 We didn’t write again, we’re not used to it. I will definitely write
my text again in the future.
Performance Checklist (Teacher version)
Teacher’s Name: R. L.
Student’s Name: A. G.
Class: CO 1
Level C: Listen and take notes in an outline / Write descriptive text
Remember the purpose of this form is NOT to give a grade/mark to the
student.
It is to form the basis of your discussion with the student in the individual
feedback session.
After the session, give this copy to the student.
Listening and Note-taking
Weak
OK
Good
1. Student could complete the
outline.
Writing
Weak
1. Student used the information
from the outline.
2. Student’s range of vocabulary
was appropriate for the level.
3. Student’s control of grammar
was appropriate for the level.
4. Student used “and, but, also,
when” to join sentences where
necessary.
5. Student’s spelling was
accurate.
6. Student’s use of capital letters
and punctuation was accurate.
Excellent
√
OK
Good
Excellent
√
√
√
√
√
√
Areas the student needs to work on:
Congratulations, Ali. You completed the task successfully, taking good notes
and using this information to write about Cape Town. In the listening and
note taking lessons you pay attention and participate well. You are getting
good at taking notes. I found your writing easy to follow and I think this is
because you organise information logically and there were no serious
grammar problems.
Think about: i) How to use punctuation accurately while using the
connecting words. Sometimes you need a comma, sometimes you don’t. ii)
Divide your writing into logical paragraphs
Action plan To improve your grammar study time adverbials (when
+simple present). Find some practice exercises for the connecting words
(and correct punctuation) in your workbook or at the SAC. Use your
dictionary to help you learn words and phrases e.g . 1000 metres high, rain
(n) (not raining). Also look at the “Centre” pages e.g. 41. Practice writing
sentences with connecting words using correct punctuation. Please write
your guidebook entry again and give back to me Monday. Ask me or Kamer
if you need help.
Feedback Date: __________________
Teacher’s Signature: ______________ Student’s Signature:
______________
SAC
SAC Feedback Date: __________________
______________
SAC Signature:
What the students say
Can you tell us if the feedback helped you?
Ali
...we worked on these points, but then, other
points appeared to work on.
I didn’t put myself into it when I was supposed to
write the second draft.
...when Rob clarified the areas better, I wrote a
better text. I made fewer mistakes.
Gulşah
...it was good to rewrite. As Ali said, it helped us
both to work on writing and to see the points to
improve.
Spin-offs and side effects
In addition to completing the task, the
feedback helped you use English better. Can
we say this?
Ali: I’ve been more careful about using articles when
speaking and writing. I also tried to write things in
better English.
Gülşah: I got more out of it than I expected. I made a
mistake in the use of ‘which’. When Rob showed me
how to use it, and also ‘when’, I corrected them.
CEF as quality insurance
instrument
• How can students achieve a CEF
competence level?
– Teachers professional development, CEF
familiarisation
– Right amount hours of instruction
How many hours of instruction?
Tschiner, E. (2005) Das ACTFL OPI und der
Europäische Referenzrahmen, Babylonia, 2, 50-55.
ACTFL
CEF French,
Spanish
German
Nov high
A1
Int mid
A2
240 IL/IM
480 IL/IM
Int high
B1
480 IH/AL
720 IH/AL
Adv mid
B2
720 AM/AH 1320 AM/AH
Adv high
C1
CEF as quality insurance instrument
• How can you prove that your students
achieve a CEF competence level?
– Internationally recognized language
certificates related to the CEF
Teachers familiarisation instruments
• CEFR “games”
• Websites for online training
 An example from www.erk.nl
 www.webcef.eu: collaborative evaluation of
oral language proficiency
 CEFtrain:
http://www.helsinki.fi/project/ceftrain/index
.html, familiarisation activities with the CEFR
Thanks for your attention
Contact:
Alessandra Corda, Leiden University
acorda@iclon.leidenuniv.nl
Bahar Gün, İzmir Ekonomi Universitesi
bahar.gun@ieu.edu.tr