CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 7 (March 2025)
Date: 2025
Title: Understanding the perspective of plurilingual assessment in teaching English at tertiary level in Ukraine
Page: 19 - 50
Authors: Viktoriia Osidak, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine; Karin Vogt, Heidelberg University of Education, Germany; Maryana Natsiuk, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-2
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: Considering the need for improving assessment instruments that measure language proficiency of plurilingual learners in the foreign language classroom, this article investigates the potential of plurilingual assessment in language education in the Ukrainian context. For this purpose, a developmental project has been carried out engaging several universities. The CEFR and its Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) were used as foundational documents to understand goals of language education and approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. The project was implemented in three phases. During phase 1, a focus was put on the analysis of contributed samples of tests (14 tests comprising 70 assessment tasks) to identify prevailing approaches to language assessment at tertiary level in the Ukrainian context. Most of the contributed assessment tasks (87%) were in English, with a smaller portion (12.8%) both in Ukrainian and English, with 11% out of 12.8% being translation tasks. No assessment tasks were in or more (2+) languages. Phase 2 aimed at empowering the teachers (n=16) with the procedures and assessment instruments to facilitate the implementation of plurilingual assessment in teaching English. Phase 3 collected teacher feedback on proposed changes to language assessment in teaching English using a questionnaire and reflection logs. The outcome of the workshops suggested that plurilingual assessment reflects real-life and professional situations that students can find themselves in but does not seem to represent common practice in the teaching context. In addition, participating teachers indicated that plurilingual assessment is of great relevance to the learning goals of their courses.
Keywords: assessment practices, linguistic repertoire, plurilingualism, plurilingual language assessment, CEFR/CV
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CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 7 (March 2025)
Date: 2025
Title: Assessing writing proficiency in a Saudi Arabian university: Comparing students, tutors, and raters’ assessment using selected CEFR scales
Page: 69 - 99
Author: Ebtesam Abdulhaleem, King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, Riyadh, KSA; Claudia Harsch, Universität Bremen, Germany
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-4
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: This study explores the writing proficiency levels of Saudi Arabian medical track students after completing a one-year Preparatory Year Programme (PYP), as well as the applicability of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in assessing their proficiency. The standardized writing exam administered at the end of the PYP revealed a ceiling effect, with the majority of students achieving high scores, despite the fact that the PYP teaches English at three different levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). To obtain a more nuanced understanding of students’ writing skills, alternative assessment methods were explored using selected CEFR scales, including self-assessment, tutor assessment, and assessment by raters recruited from the UK (experts in using CEFR scales). The study aimed to determine if these CEFR-based assessments can reliably differentiate among the three PYP levels, and if the CEFR scales are practical and applicable in this context. The findings show that the CEFR-based scores from all three assessor groups can reliably separate students according to their PYP level. The results highlight that the CEFR can serve as a valuable tool for understanding students' writing proficiency, even in non-European settings. This study encourages further exploration in the use of CEFR scales to assess proficiency levels.
Keywords: Writing proficiency, Preparatory Year Programme (PYP), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), self-assessment, tutors’ assessment, raters, proficiency levels, CEFR scales
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CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 7 (March 2025)
Date: 2025
Title: Application of the CEFR to an Arabic Corpus: A Case Study
Page: 100 - 111
Author: Aziza Zaher, Durham University
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-5
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) was developed by the Council of Europe and first published in 2001. It has since evolved significantly and new volumes have been published; most recently, the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) in 2020. The CEFR aims to provide the basis for L2 learning, teaching, and assessment of European languages. However, it has been widely used around the world in non-European contexts. This article presents a case study of the application of the CEFR to an Arabic corpus comprising 214 texts produced by first year students at Zayed University in the UAE, which is part of a bilingual corpus in Arabic and English. This article focuses on the application of the CEFR to the Arabic texts which posed specific challenges, including Arabic diglossia whereby there are two distinct varieties of the language used for writing and speaking. Furthermore, the complexities of Arabic grammar include that it has formal features which only appear in writing. There is also some overlap between Arabic and other languages, particularly English, as many English expressions are used in everyday life in Arab societies. These factors, among others, lead to unique issues to consider when applying the CEFR to a written Arabic corpus. However, due to the generic nature of the CEFR descriptors, they have been applied successfully to the assessment of the Arabic written corpus, which provides the basis for further applications of the CEFR to other competencies in Arabic and to other non-European languages. This article describes the process of rating the corpus, outlines the practical implications of the application of the CEFR to an Arabic written corpus and presents an overview of student performance mapped across the six CEFR levels.
Keywords: CEFR, Arabic, written Corpus, Assessment, Non-European languages, Diglossia
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CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 7 (March 2025)
Date: 2025
Title: Responding to the CEFR Alignment Handbook: Sharing experience of alignment activities and reflecting on lessons learned
Page: 112 - 116
Authors: The Handbook Steering Group: Neus Figueras, University of Barcelona; David Little, Trinity College Dublin; Barry O’Sullivan, British Council; Nick Saville, ALTE; Lynda Taylor, University of Bedfordshire
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-6
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: In February 2020, a conference entitled “The CEFR: Towards a Road Map for Future Research and Development”, co-sponsored by EALTA, UKALTA and the British Council, was hosted by the British Council in London (O’Dwyer et al. 2020, Little and Figueras 2022). The organizing institutions recognized the need to explore ways of developing research methodologies and projects of various kinds that could help to extend and further develop the CEFR and its implementation. It was hoped that the conference would inform the development of a road map for future engagement with the CEFR, taking account of what had been learnt so far and of new developments in applied linguistics and related disciplines.
Participants in the February 2020 conference agreed on the need for a new Handbook to support the alignment of language education with the CEFR and its Companion Volume. Accordingly, the three organizations behind the conference, together with ALTE, developed Aligning Language Education with the CEFR: A Handbook, publishing it online in April 2022 (Figueras et al. 2022). In undertaking to produce the Handbook, the steering group (which emerged from the February 2020 event) recognized that alignment applies not only to language tests but to policy, curriculum guidelines, curricula, syllabuses, textbooks and other teaching/learning resources. The group also decided that the Handbook should serve to inform policy makers, teacher educators, teachers and other language education stakeholders, as well as supporting the more or less technical processes on which alignment depends. The Handbook also seeks to help users to navigate the wide range of CEFR-related reference documents.
Keywords: Conference Report; Alignment; Innovation; CEFR; Professional Associations
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CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 7 (March 2025)
Date: 2025
Title: Awareness-Raising in Training Student Teachers to Rate Written-Performances in line with the CEFR
Page: 51 - 68
Author: Jana Bérešová, Trnava University, Slovakia
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-3
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: Language teaching in Slovakia is based on the concepts presented in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) and CEFR Companion Volume. Despite efforts to align the learning outcomes in primary and secondary education to CEFR proficiency levels in the national curricula and significant changes in approaches to language teaching and learning in previous years, teachers’ familiarity with particular level descriptors is unbalanced. Their marking of students’ written performances does not explicitly reflect the different proficiency levels. To change this situation in the country, intensive training of student teachers became necessary. Assessing written performances requires systematic training based on marking criteria related to a particular reference level. To prepare future teachers of English to be able to distinguish between particular proficiency levels, several activities were designed to ensure that student teachers acquire a detailed knowledge of a targeted set of descriptors. Among other documents, a written assessment grid (Appendix 4, CEFR/CV) was introduced to sensitise student teachers to the need to familiarise themselves with the descriptors and apply them, specifying what is appropriate to expect at different levels of achievement. A new academic course on evaluation and testing in language education has been introduced in conjunction with a pre-service training course. The aim is to ensure that student teachers receive the necessary training to apply marking criteria when assessing written and oral performances. This study explores the approach adopted using a written assessment grid from the CEFR Companion Volume. Particular activities and data that were collected and analysed during the course of the present study are furthermore presented.
Keywords: written performances, rating, pre-service teacher training, raters’ judgements, reference descriptors
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CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume: CEFR Journal - Research and Practice Volume 7 (March 2025)
Date: 2025
Title: Action-oriented, Plurilingual and Intercultural Education: A new association – API Forum
Page: 5 - 18
Author: Brian North, CEFR co-author; President API forum
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-1
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract: Despite developments over the past 20 to 30 years in theories that inform language education, the predominant pedagogical approach in English Language Teaching (ELT) has not changed radically since the introduction of the coursebook-dominated ‘mature version’ of communicative language teaching (CLT) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the field, the CEFR appears to have been perceived mainly as a set of proficiency levels and descriptors (common reference points) to guide assessments, provide standards and align planning, teaching and assessment. In great part, implementation of the CEFR overlooks the action-oriented, plurilingual approach to language education advocated in the 2001 original, and even more so in the 2020 CEFR Companion Volume. After outlining why that might be the case and briefly summarising the key aspects of the CEFR pedagogic vision – action-orientation, the social agent, mediation and plurilingualism – this article introduces a new international association for language educators and researchers, API Forum, dedicated to promoting, implementing, researching and further developing this vision.
Keywords: Innovation; CEFR; Action-orientation; Plurilingualism; Mediation; Professional Associations
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CEFR Journal - Research and Practice
Volume 7 is published by March 25th, 2025
Volume 7 (March 2025)
Editorial Team: Fergus O'Dwyer, Dmitri Leontjev, Elif Kantarcıoğlu, Morten Hunke, Maria Gabriela Schmidt
Table of Contents
Editorial by Fergus O'Dwyer
Articles
7-1, Title: Action-oriented, Plurilingual and Intercultural Education: A new association – API Forum
7-2, Title: Understanding the perspective of plurilingual assessment in teaching English at tertiary level in Ukraine
Authors: Viktoriia Osidak, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine; Karin Vogt, Heidelberg University of Education, Germany; Maryana Natsiuk, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
Page: 19 - 50
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-2
7-3, Title: Awareness-Raising in Training Student Teachers to Rate Written-Performances in line with the CEFR
Author: Jana Bérešová, Trnava University, Slovakia
Page: 51 - 68
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-3
Authors: Ebtesam Abdulhaleem, King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, Riyadh, KSA; Claudia Harsch, Universität Bremen, Germany
Page: 69 - 99
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-4
7-5, Title: Application of the CEFR to an Arabic Corpus: A Case Study
Authors: Aziza Zaher, Durham University, Great Britain
Page: 100 - 111
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-5
Conference Report
Authors: The Handbook Steering Group: Neus Figueras, University of Barcelona; David Little, Trinity College Dublin; Barry O’Sullivan, British Council; Nick Saville, ALTE; Lynda Taylor, University of Bedfordshire
Page: 112 - 116
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR7-6
Editorial - Volume 7
Fergus O’Dwyer
The underlying philosophy of open scholarship—freely sharing knowledge in a collaborative manner—is central to the CEFR, and found in the two contributions that bookend this seventh issue of the journal. The steering group of the freely available Aligning Language Education with the CEFR: a Handbook report on an event in Barcelona in 2024 that advanced a wide range of policy and pedagogical issues, with results feeding forward to objectives for future development. This includes an upcoming special guest-edited issue of the CEFR Journal on alignment issues, as well as involving international networks of language teacher educators and language teachers. The latter is in a similar vein to the first article by Brian North who discusses the formation of the Action-oriented, Plurilingual and Intercultural Education (API) Forum. This new organization aims to facilitate an inclusive and democratic language education that promotes an Action-oriented Approach and plurilingualism. One critical task is the networking of initiatives and projects concerning the key concepts of the CEFR/CV. Another stated aim of the API forum—supporting the development of teacher competences—is threaded through two of the other articles in this issue.
Osidak, Vogt and Natsiuk examine the Ukrainian tertiary-level context, highlighting the importance of the CEFR/CV descriptors in facilitating a shift towards plurilingual assessment. The article builds toward a collaborative approach to knowledge construction that empowers teachers allowing them to be agents for educational change. Jana Bérešová finds that active involvement in rating written work by student teachers in Slovakia leads to an awareness of the many possibilities of applying the CEFR in various contexts, ultimately positively impacting the development of classroom materials and the learning process in general.
The remaining two articles deal with the further development of the CEFR, with Aziza Zaher suggesting the need for a tailored framework that considers the specific features of the Arabic language. Abdulhaleem and Harsch verify the use of the CEFR as a criterion-referenced tool for gaining a broad understanding of proficiency levels, even if participants possess limited familiarity with the CEFR scales.
The above are examples of the broad range of issues which can be addressed in a focused manner by contributing to the journal: we welcome future submissions starting with an upcoming call for abstracts (details to follow on the journal website). Furthermore, we can expect that the emerging connectedness brought about by two initiatives outlined in the first paragraph above will be further developed in the API forum hybrid conference to be held in Rome on 19-20 June 2025. Onward and forward!
Dublin (Ireland), March 2025
(Last update: April 24th, 2025 MGS)
Title: Usability of CEFR Companion Volume scales for the development of an analytic rating scale for academic integrated writing assessment
Page: 155-177
Author(s): Claudia Harsch (University of Bremen), Valeriia Koval (University of Bremen), Ximena Delgado-Osorio (DIPF, Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education), Johannes Hartig (DIPF, Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Educおｐｌation)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR6-9
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract:
Successful academic writing from sources requires a broad range of competencies. When writing from sources, students are expected to mine source texts for relevant ideas, present these ideas with precision and in necessary depth, have efficient paraphrasing skills and the knowledge of proper source attribution. In order to assess the combination of these skills in writing and to provide diagnostic feedback to the learners, there is a need to design a rating scale where the required skills are operationalized in separate criteria (Knoch 2011). However, this endeavour may be challenging due to the complex nature of the academic integrated writing construct.
This article describes the process of analytic rating scale development in the context of German higher education (HE). We address the issues of construct complexity and the operationalization of the construct elements in rating scale criteria by a combination of theory-based, descriptor-based, empirical, and intuitive approaches to scale development (e.g., Chan, Chihiro and Taylor 2015; Kuiken and Vedder 2021), with a particular focus on the usability of relevant scales from the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV; Council of Europe 2020). Besides the CEFR scales, we also explore the usability of existing scales for integrated writing and relevant taxonomies (e.g., Keck 2006; Shi 2004). Finally, we present qualitative insights of intuitive expert judgement from a workshop with four content experts who trialled and refined the first draft of the rating scale. The ensuing validation of the rating scale is, however, beyond the scope of this paper and the mixed-methods validation study will be reported elsewhere.
The rating scale development reported here was part of the DFG-funded research project Modelling of academic integrated linguistic competencies, conducted at the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education in Frankfurt. The project aim was to evaluate the academic-linguistic preparedness of students taking up English-medium studies in Germany by employing authentic integrated writing tasks and valid assessment procedures. The article offers insights into challenges and critical considerations when developing CEFR-based rating scales for integrated writing, focusing on valid rating criteria, bands, and adapting existing descriptors.
Keywords: rating scale development, CEFR/CV, integrated writing tasks, academic preparedness, validation of a rating scale
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Title: Developing CEFR-based mediation rating scales for standardized exams at state language schools in Andalucia (Spain)
Page: 137-154
Author(s): Maria Teresa Berceruelo Pino (Official School of Languages Granada, retired, September 2022), Angel Diaz Cobo (Official School of Languages Cadiz), Maria Deseada Lopez Fernandez (Official School of Languages Estepona, University of Malaga), Antonio Romero Rodriguez (coordinator, Official School of Languages Cadiz)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR6-8
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract:
In 2017, the publication of a new national curriculum for the teaching of foreign languages at Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas – the network of state Official Schools of Languages – in Spain signaled the top-down inclusion of mediation as a part of the already existing standardized proficiency exams to certify the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels. The Junta de Andalucia [Andalusian Regional Government] commissioned a team of four educators from those schools to develop the rating scales for mediation that would be used as evidence of language competence in certification assessment from 2019 onwards. This study addresses the 5-year challenging process of developing rating scales aligned with mediation descriptors in the CEFR Companion Volume (COE 2018, 2020; Spanish version 2021; henceforth CEFR/CV), adapted to their specific regional educational context, and informed by classroom practice. We describe our educational context, and the changes experienced from 2019 to 2023: from merging mediation into the written interaction task and rating scale, through genuine written mediation tasks and rating scales, to an eventual hybrid model at present. In this study, we also aim to reach some conclusions, inviting the use of the latest rating scales we have developed for official language certification.
Keywords: linguistic mediation, mediation strategies, assessment of mediation, rating scales, standardized testing, CEFR/CV descriptor adaptation, linguistic mediation tasks
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Title: Making a Case for Poetry in Action-oriented Foreign Language Courses
Page: 112-136
Author(s): Ursula Hehl (TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences), Anne Laaredj-Campbell (The National Agency for Pedagogical Exchange)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR6-7
This article is open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
Abstract:
The present article describes a small-scale poetry project intended to foster culturally responsive learning in the C1-level university language course. The instructor of this course had the opportunity to invite an aspiring poet, Ivan Bio from Sierra Leone, to a reading of three of his poems to be performed during one of the sessions. Designed as an extension activity for one of the course units, the project required students to complete a set of tasks to prepare for the poetry reading as well as engage in follow-up activities to reflect on the experience.
By describing and analyzing the implementation of this reading session, the authors aim to explore the potential benefits of poetic discourse for language courses based on action-oriented, learner-centered approaches.
Against the background of the CEFR descriptors relating to the reception of creative/literary language and the mediation of texts, the authors intend to show that the interpretation and analysis of poetic texts can help students not only to increase their sensitivity to and awareness of the ambivalence of language, but also to in turn expand their communicative language competences, most notably their mediation skills.
To achieve these goals, students were asked not only to analyze and explain the poems to their peers, but also to formulate personal responses to the texts. A striking observation was that the context of remote learning where students communicated in a Zoom meeting did not seem to interfere with their willingness and ability to express their attitudes and even their emotions. This made the meeting an emotionally profound experience for everybody involved, and the authors will argue that not only the range but also the intensity of the language learning experience can be greatly enhanced by integrating poetry in the foreign language classroom. The article intends to demonstrate that the CEFR with its Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) and their operationalization in action-oriented approaches form a perfect basis for expanding learners’ language competences through poetry.
Keywords: poetry reading, culturally responsive teaching and learning, cultural awareness, action-oriented approach, learner-centeredness, mediation, blended learning, remote learning
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Title: Teachers’ insights on self-assessment of multilingual students according to the CEFR
Page: 80-103
Author(s): Thomais Rousoulioti (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Antonios Ventouris (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Olympia Blatsioti (Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Greece), Dimitra Tsalta (University of Nicosia)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR6-5
Abstract:
Assessment issues are particularly sensitive, complex and demanding when they involve a second language (L2) and multilingual students who attend national schools (Ross 2006). The modern student-centered pedagogical orientation combined with the ever-increasing needs for more authentic, equitable, individualized and differentiated assessment has led to the implementation of alternative practices, including self-assessment (Andrews 2016; Butler and Lee 2010). During self-assessment students are encouraged to express their opinion on their own work and to judge the extent to which it meets predetermined goals and criteria (Panadero et al. 2016: 2). This paper presents teacher beliefs on the implementation of self-assessment in the teaching Greek as L2 in Experimental Intercultural public schools. The participants were 124 teachers who answered an e-questionnaire, while 12 of them were also interviewed. The results revealed that most teachers develop a positive attitude towards self-assessment recognizing its multiple benefits. As was also reported in previous research (e.g., Oscarson 1989; Gardner 2000), self-assessment supports the contemporary student-centered pedagogical orientation and autonomous learning while it also enhances student performance, motivation, and metacognitive skills. However, teachers continue to question their own and the student’s readiness to adopt it, a finding also attested in the literature (Figueras et al. 2009).
Keywords: alternative assessment, self-assessment, second/foreign language, teacher believes, L2 Greek
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Title: The development of mediation strategies when relaying information, both in speech and writing: Task samples for undergraduate students of Spanish as a foreign language
Page: 104-111
Author(s): Macarena Jiménez Naranjo (University College London), Marga Navarrete (University College London), Mazal Oaknín (University College London)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR6-6
Abstract:
Mediation was marginally included in the CEFR (2001), but it is in most recent editions (2018, 2020) that this area has gained pivotal recognition. New descriptors have been incorporated to foster the development of mediation activities and strategies, as well as the emphasis on plurilingual and pluricultural competences for language learning, among other aspects. This paper will discuss two sequences of tasks based on the illustrative descriptor “Relaying specific information” included within the “Mediating a text” scale, which “involves passing on to another person the content of a text to which they do not have access, often because of linguistic, cultural, semantic or technical barriers” (CEFR/CV 2020: 91). Furthermore, there are two subscales that have been covered throughout our activities. The first is “Relaying specific information” and the second is “Processing text.” Both subscales can take place in speech, writing or sign, but in the case of our tasks, they were done in speech followed by the writing format. In the first one (CEFR/CV, B2), textual mediation was carried out whilst discussing the controversial decision of adding Castilian Spanish subtitles -- the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain-- to the film Roma (2018), shot in Mexican Spanish, and Mixtec. The second task aimed to offer an in-depth revision of cohesive devices. Thus, it provided students (CEFR/CV, C1) with the opportunity to review various Spanish linking words and strengthen their use in argumentative texts.
Keywords: Foreign language teaching, descriptors, mediating a text, relaying specific information, CEFR
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Title: Mapping the SMEEA Gaokao tests to the CEFR
Page: 56-79
Author(s): Jane Lloyd (Cambridge University Press and Assessment), Graham Seed (Cambridge University Press and Assessment), Xu Wen (Shanghai Municipal Educational Examinations Authority), Hu Yue, Shanghai Municipal Educational Examinations Authority
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR6-4
Abstract:
This paper reports on a project where the Shanghai Municipal Educational Examinations Authority (SMEEA) engaged Cambridge University Press and Assessment (Cambridge) to begin the alignment process of their six foreign language tests to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2001, 2020). These six language tests are developed by SMEEA and form part of China’s National College Entrance Examination system. They are referred to as China’s National College Entrance Examination (Shanghai Paper), or the Shanghai Gaokao. This project was undertaken to enable a comparison of the relative difficulty of each language version of the Shanghai Gaokao, in terms of the CEFR. Additional project aims were to carry out training in the CEFR and in CEFR mapping procedures, using a blend of online delivery and a cascaded training model. This project took place between September 2021 and January 2022, involving a series of linked training and mapping activities and workshops. In this paper the focus is on the practical aspects of a computer mediated CEFR mapping project, on our reflections and recommendations, and on the participant feedback. Some outcomes are included which are directly related to the CEFR, but not any outcomes which are confidential.
Keywords: CEFR, alignment, examination, Shanghai Gaokao, mapping, online, cascaded training, China
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