CEFR Journal - Research and Practice - Volume 1 (May 2019)

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice - Volume 1 (May 2019)

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice

Volume 4 (December 2021)

Volume 4-1, page 5-24: The CEFR Companion Volume - What's new and what might it imply for teaching/learning and for assessment?, Brian North (CEFR and CEFR/CV co-author)

Volume 4-2, page 25-42: Mediation in practice in an ESAP course: Versions of the Medical English student conference, Magdalini Liontou (University of Jyväskylä) and Eva Braidwood (University of Oulu)

Volume 4-3, page 43-65: Foreign Language Education Reform through Action Research - Putting CEFR educational principles into practice, Gregory Charles Birch (Seisen Jogakuin College), Jack Victor Bower (Tezukayama University), Noriko Nagai (Ibaraki University) and Maria Gabriela Schmidt (Nihon University)

Editorial - Volume 4, Fergus O'Dwyer

The central concerns of the CEFR Journal are learning, teaching and assessment, with one focus of the journal to present fresh perspectives and practices that progress innovative elements relating to the above. The fourth volume of the journal opens with a contribution from Brian North examining some of these elements: the social agent in an action-oriented approach, mediation and plurilingualism. While developed in the original 2001 document, the 2020 Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) aims to create avenues for further elaboration and dissemination within these inter-related issues.

North discusses the new CEFR mediation descriptors as the potential basis of curriculum aims and assessment for/as learning, and how they potentially broaden the scope of language activity in classrooms and learner involvement in these activities. This ties in with the social agent in an action-oriented approach: North argues scaffolded learning through integrated collaborative tasks may effectively harness a broad range of the learner’s resources. This connects with the second article (by Magdalini Liontou and Eva Braidwood) about a set of simulation activities (a student conference) for medical students in Finland. One important point to note is that teaching enhancements found in the article most probably would have not been discovered if not due the mother of invention: necessity! Due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the activities morphed into a hybrid conference of asynchronous presentations with real-time Q&A forums in online posts. As a result, the new design activated production, reception, interaction and mediation modes simultaneously. The editors are happy to find student perceptions
regarding mediation tasks, particularly a discussion of the benefits of mediation and how authentic communication tasks can enhance engagement and learner autonomy. Participation in the conference, which requires learners to interpret and communicate meaning to others, was perceived to enhance medical-specific learning and facilitate higher-level cognition.

The thread of teacher researchers offering valuable insights into approaches utilizing the CEFR in different organizations found in previous volumes is further developed in the final article. Greg Birch and colleagues discuss their Japanese government funded project which supports several small-scale action research initiatives, proposing a 3-stage CEFR-focused AR model (CARM, which is based on plan, action, and critical review). The model potentially facilitates researchers and researcher networks to generate improved teaching practices using the CEFR as a reference and conceptual tool. With reflection integral in each stage, one aim of CARM is to provide detailed guidance to ensure research is conducted systematically and rigorously. The journal is one avenue where other teacher researchers can take up the challenge to incrementally develop their practices, and bring the enterprise forward by sharing exemplary practices with the language teaching community.

The implications of the developments for the classroom and assessment of learning found in this volume will be developed further in upcoming contributions due to be published in the fifth volume. As noted in the call for papers, there is room for further submissions to the journal where contributors personally engage with the ideas found here in their own context and practices.

—Dublin (Irland), November 2021

* * * * * * *

(Update February 25th, 2023 MGS)

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice

Volume 3 (October 2020)

Volume 3-1, page 6-20: Is a self-regulatory eELP the way forward? A reflection on two decades of achievements and failures of the ELP, Maria José Luelmo del Castillo (Rey Juan Carlos University) & Maria Luisa Pérez Cavana (Open University)

Volume 3-2, page 21-43: Initial stages of individual teacher CEFR-related classroom curriculum projects at Miyazaki International College, Rebecca Schmidt (Miyazaki International College) & Ellen Head (Miyazaki International College)

Volume 3-3, page 44-58: Learner perspectives: familiarization, knowledge, and perceptions of the CEFR, Gary Cook (Hiroshima Bunkyo University) & Yukari Rutson-Griffiths (Hiroshima Bunkyo University)

Volume 3-4, page 59-86: Investigating the difficulties for university learners of English in Japan of CEFR B1-level phrases, Takeshi Matsuzaki (Meiji University) & Kevin Mark (Meiji University)

Volume 3-5, page 87-97: Interpretation of the CEFR Companion Volume for developing rating scales in Cuban higher education, Claudia Harsch (University of Bremen), Ivonne de la Caridad Collada Peña (University of Informatics Sciences, Havana), Tamara Gutiérrez Baffil (University of Pinar del Río), Pedro Castro Álvarez (University of Informatics Sciences, Havana), & Ioani García Fernández (University of Cienfuegos)

Volume 3-6, page 98-103: Utilising pupils’ plurilingual skills: a whole-school approach to language learning in a linguistically diverse Irish primary school, Déirdre Kirwan (former principal of Scoil Bhríde Cailíní)

Volume 3-7, page 104-115: Developing an e-portfolio reflecting the concept of mediation for university students, Yukie Saito (Chuo University)

Volume 3-8, page 116-125: Classroom-based assessment of group discussion: Challenges and opportunities, Olga Y. Lankina (St. Petersburg State University) & Yulia V. Petc (St. Petersburg State University)

Editorial - Volume 3, Alexander Imig

The CEFR and the international CEFR-movement represent an achievement of the emerging world society. Built upon a foundation of long-range language policy by the Council of Europe (CoE), the CEFR was a European project first. But since then, the project has turned out to be a success story beyond Europe as well; as the volume of Byram and Parmenter (2012) impressively demonstrated. The perspective, however, of their book is in two aspects too narrow: 1) the case studies of countries offer only a brief outline for these particular countries; 2) the role of networks of teachers and researchers is only touched upon. A systematic analysis of networks could not be carried out within the limited framework of the book. Inquiring into both aspects is in fact the ‘raison d’être’ of the CEFR Journal. The first and second volume of this journal illustrate amply that practitioners in the field of language learning, teaching, and assessment also successfully act as researchers and have to offer valuable insights into approaches utilizing the CEFR in different organizations.

This third volume of the CEFR Journal continues this policy and starts with an important companion to the CEFR: the portfolio for languages; the European Language Portfolio (ELP). Maria José Luelmo del Castillo and Maria Luisa Pérez Cavana ask in the first text in the Article section: “Is a self-regulatory eELP the way forward?” and they offer a reflection on “two decades of achievements and failures of the ELP”. The next three articles are contributions from Japan. In the second article Rebecca Schmidt and Ellen Head analyze “Initial stages of individual teacher CEFR-related classroom curriculum projects at Miyazaki International College”, and in the third article Gary Cook and Yukari Rutson-Griffiths (Hiroshima Bunkyo University) introduce “Learner perspectives: familiarization, knowledge, and perceptions of the CEFR”. In the fourth article Takeshi Matsuzaki and Kevin Mark are “Investigating the difficulties for university learners of English in Japan of CEFR B1-level phrases”, which provides an in-depth study about the usage of the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP) and its application in Japan.

(Update February 25th, 2023 MGS)

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice

Volume 2 (June 2020)

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice

 Volume 1 (May 2019)

https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.CEFR1

These articles are open access and licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.

Download PDF of complete issue:

Click here for downloading complete issue of volume 1 with DOI

Table of Contents

Volume 1-1, page 5 -17: Coming Full Circle—From CEFR to CEFR-J and back, Yukio Tono (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)

Volume 1-2, page 18-32: Impact of the Common European Framework of Reference—A bibliometric analysis of research from 1990-2017, Judith Runnels (University of Bedfordshire) & Vivien Runnels (University of Ottawa)

Volume 1-3, page 33-40: How new CEFR mediation descriptors can help to assess the discussion skills of management students—Global and analytical scales, Irina Y. Pavlovskaya (St. Petersburg State University) & Olga Y. Lankina (St. Petersburg State University)

Volume 1-4, page 41-57: Implementing the CEFR at a Vietnamese university—General English language teachers’ perceptions, Le Thi Thanh Hai (University of Foreign Languages, Hue University) & Pham Thi Hong Nhung (University of Foreign Languages, Hue University)

Volume 1-5, page 58-65: Jumping through hoops and keeping the human-in-the-loop—Interview with Dr Nick Saville

 
Editorial - Volume 1, Morten Hunke

This is the maiden issue of our new CEFR Journal – Research and Practice. It has taken us a little longer to publish than we had expected and hoped for, but we are glad to be able to finally introduce our brand new online journal to the public. We envisage this journal as an accessible platform for different kinds of learning, teaching and research activities in the field of the CEFR, language frameworks, and portfolios. Reports on best practice and work in progress are equally as welcome as article/book reviews and academic articles. It goes without saying that the journal stands firmly on the grounds of due diligence and quality assurance. All submissions undergo double-blind peer reviews by at least two reviewers.

In this first issue, we are proud to present to you an illustrious collection of texts from around the globe. We kick off by exploring some of the after-effects of the extensive CEFR-J project in Japan. In this progress report, the reader is presented with glimpses of how such a huge project outside Europe now contributes to language learning and teaching resources globally as can be seen in the CEFR-Jx28 project in Coming full circle: From CEFR to CEFR-J and back (Yukio Tono, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan).

This opening article is followed by some meticulous bibliometric research on the width and breadth of scholarly work relating to the CEFR by Judith Runnels (University of Bedfordshire, UK) and Vivien Runnels (University of Ottawa, Canada) in Impact of the Common European Framework of Reference: A bibliometric analysis of research from 1990-2017. 

Next up, Irina Pavlovskaya and Olga Lankina from the University of St. Petersburg (Russia) showcase early use of the newly added feature of mediation in the publication of the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV): How new CEFR mediation descriptors can help to assess the discussion skills of management students – global and analytical scales.

Vietnam makes for another astounding example of adoption and adaptation of the CEFR in an Asian country in order to achieve massive nationwide changes to the entirety of (English) language teaching from school to higher education level. How such drastic alterations affect teachers having to conform to the new system is described in an article by Pham Thi Hong Nhung and Le Thi Thanh Hai (Hue University of Foreign Languages, Vietnam): Implementing the CEFR at a Vietnamese university: General English language teachers’ perceptions.

In Jumping through hoops and keeping the human-in-the-loop, Maria Gabriela Schmidt and I myself had the opportunity to interview Dr. Nick Saville (Director of Research and Thought Leadership at Cambridge Assessment English, UK) at the JALT International Conference in Tsukuba in November 2017. This interview looks at both the history of the CEFR in Japan as well as issues surrounding language testing and the role of artificial intelligence in the sphere. It also offers some insights into the background history of the JALT CEFR & LP SIG and it helps to contextualize how this journal came into existence.

Thus, is the maiden issue of the CEFR Journal rounded off. It has been an honor to serve as the Editor-in-Chief for this first issue. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who made this journal possible: the authors, the reviewers, the proofreaders, the editorial advisory board, and especially the JALT CEFR & LP SIG officers and members. We have been working together closely for more than 10 years and have realized a fair number of CEFR-related projects. May this journal gradually become the platform of mutual support and stimulus to foreign language professionals around the world that we are envisioning it to be.

—Bochum (Germany) & Tokyo (Japan), May 2019

* * * * * *

under construction

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice

ISSN: 2434-849X

Publication Statement - Mission Statement

Please contact the editors and submit to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mission statement

The CEFR Journal is an online, open-access, peer-to-peer journal for practitioners and researchers. Our board of editors comprises stakeholders on a wide range of levels and from around the world. One aim of our journal is to create an open space for exchanging ideas on classroom practice and implementation related to the CEFR and/or other language frameworks, as well as sharing research findings and results on learning, teaching, and assessment-related topics. We are committed to a strong bottom-up approach and the free exchange of ideas. A journal by the people on the ground for the people on the ground with a strong commitment to extensive research and academic rigor. Learning and teaching languages in the 21st century, accommodating the 21st century learner and teacher. All contributions have undergone multiple double-blind peer reviews. 

We encourage you to submit your texts and volunteer yourself for reviewing. Thanks a million.

Aims, goals, and purposes

Our aim is to take a fresh look at the CEFR and other language frameworks from both a practitioner’s and a researcher’s perspective. We want the journal to be a platform for all to share best practice examples and ideas, as well as research. It should be globally accessible to the wider interested public, which is why we opted for an open online journal format.

The impact of the CEFR and now the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) has been growing to previously wholly unforeseeable levels. Especially in Asia, there are several large-scale cases of adoption and adaptation of the CEFR to the needs and requirements on the ground. Such contexts often focus majorly on English language learning and teaching. However, there are other language frameworks, such as the ACTFL and the Canadian benchmarks, while the Chinese Standard of English (CSE) is also on its way. On the one hand there is a growing need for best practice examples in the form of case studies, and on the other hand practitioners are increasingly wanting to exchange their experiences and know-how. Our goal is to close the gap between research and practice in foreign language education related to the CEFR, CEFR/CV, and other language frameworks. Together, we hope to help address the challenges of 21st century foreign language learning and teaching on a global stage. In Europe, many take the CEFR and its implementation for granted, and not everyone reflects on its potential uses and benefits. Others are asking for case studies showing the effectiveness of the CEFR and the reality of its usage in everyday classroom teaching. In particular, large-scale implementation studies simply do not exist. Even in Europe, there is a center and a periphery of readiness for CEFR implementation. It is difficult to bring together the huge number of ongoing projects from the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), and the EU aiming to aid the implementation of the CEFR. This results in a perceived absence in the substance of research. Outside Europe, the CEFR has been met with very different reactions and speeds of adaptation and implementation. Over the last few years, especially in Asia, the demand by teachers for reliable (case) studies has been growing.
For more than a decade, the people behind this journal – the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) CEFR & Language Portfolio special interest group (CEFR & LP SIG) – have been working on a number of collaborative research projects, yielding several books and textbooks, as well as numerous newsletters. This is a not-for-profit initiative; there are no institutional ties or restraints in place. The journal aims to cooperate internationally with other individuals and/or peer groups of practitioners/researchers with similar interests. We intend to create an encouraging environment for professional, standard-oriented practice and state-of-the-art foreign language teaching and research, adapted to a variety of contexts.

 Editorial Advisory Board

Please contact the editors and submit to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Guidelines 

Peer review guidelines:

We ask all peer reviewers to make every reasonable effort to adhere to the following ethical guidelines for the CEFR Journal – Research and Practice submissions that they have agreed to review:

1.  Reviewers must give unbiased consideration to each manuscript submitted for consideration for publication, and should judge each on its merits, without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the author(s).
2. Reviewers should declare any potential conflict of interest prior to agreeing to review a manuscript, including any relationship with the author that may potentially bias their review.
3. Reviewers must keep the peer review process confidential; information or correspondence about a manuscript should not be shared with anyone outside the peer review process.
4. Reviewers should provide a constructive, comprehensive, evidenced, and appropriately substantial peer review report.
5. Reviewers must avoid making statements in their report that might be construed as impugning a person’s reputation.
6. Reviewers should make all reasonable efforts to submit their report and recommendation in a timely manner, informing the editor if this is not possible.
7. Reviewers should call to the journal editor’s attention any significant similarity between the manuscript under consideration and any published paper or submitted manuscript of which they are aware.

Adapted from © Taylor & Francis Online

Author instructions:

deGruyter Mouton guidelines for Language Learning in Higher Education (CercleS) and style sheet.

(Updated October 13th, 2024 MGS)

 (Updated February 12th, 2025 MGS)