The CEFR in France

8/19/2019 The CEFR in France

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The Canadian Modern Language Review / La revue canadienne des

langues vivantes, Volume 71, Number 4, November/novembre 2015,

pp. 507-509 (Review)

For additional information about this article

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Brian North (2014). The CEFR in Practice. Cambridge, England: Cam- bridge University Press. Pp. 270, CAN$37.95 (paper).

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages(CEFR) has been part of the Canadian consciousness for almost adecade since it was first presented to the second-language (L2) teachingcommunity as a transparent and coherent framework for describinglanguage proficiency in Canada (Vandergrift, 2006). Since that time,many provinces and territories have put the CEFR into practice, somemore explicitly than others, in spite of there being limited tools avail-able to direct their reflection on an ‘action-oriented’ approach towardteaching L2 or toward guiding their curriculum planning and assess-

ment. With this book, Brian North offers a new and important tool,‘written primarily for language teachers, academic managers/heads of departments and teacher trainers who wish to deepen their under-standing of the CEFR and of sensible ways of exploiting it’ (p. 4).

This book is well organized and written to cater to different read-ers. It comprises four substantive chapters that give examples of howthe CEFR has been exploited in actual practice. Each chapter is di-vided into three sections. First, “Essentials” introduces the relevanceof the CEFR to the topic examined, along with related practical refer-

ences (materials and Web sites). Second, “More details” provides background to different CEFR projects and examples of CEFR imple-mentation in contextually appropriate ways. Third, “Issues” dealswith the questions and controversial issues regarding the CEFR; thissection is more academically oriented and is complemented by full bibliographic references. This book is not necessarily meant to be readfrom cover to cover, but can be “dipped into” by the reader, accordingto need and interest.

Chapter 2 introduces the CEFR. This chapter would be most useful

for those who have little knowledge of the framework and have notread the original document (Council of Europe, 2001). Informed read-ers may wish to focus on the “Issues” section of this chapter, whichdeals with the oft-heard criticisms of the framework; for example, the basis of the descriptors in teacher perceptions rather than in studies of language acquisition over time, or the uncertain validity of the de-scriptors in different contexts.

Chapter 3 deals with the CEFR levels in detail. Although readersfamiliar with the original document may consider this information to

be redundant, there are several unique tables; for example, CEFR-salient characteristics for reception (Table 3.1), a contextual (Japan) branching of listening descriptors for the A level (Table 3.2), or de-scriptors for university study in the target language (section 3.1.3.2)

Reviews / Critiques 507

© 2015 CMLR/RCLV, 71, 4, 500–509 doi:10.3138/CMLR.71.4.507



that might be of interest. The “Issues” section deals with questionssuch as the lack of descriptors for intercultural competence and medi-ation, progress through the levels, and the classic question of what it

means to be a “B1.”Chapter 4 focuses on curriculum and course planning; it will be of

particular interest to readers looking for guidance on how to put thedescriptors into practice. Although the CEFR claims to be neutral withregard to teaching methodology, in order for language learners to per-form what the descriptors describe, teachers are expected to makemethodological choices that are “action-oriented” – that is, oriented toreal-world communication. This action-oriented approach is definedas “language is communication, collaboration . . . language learning is

for a social purpose . . . for what we need or want to do in thelanguage . . . and involves needs analysis” (p. 107). North relies heav-ily on his EAQUALS (Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality Lan-guage Services) experience to illustrate how to align a curriculumwith the CEFR. Many concrete examples of planning and self-assessment instruments are provided, as well as scenarios that connectthe classroom to the real world. The “Issues” section distinguishes between tasks and exercises and discusses how to achieve an appro-priate balance between focus on form and fluency to enhance accurate

L2 learning.Chapter 5 addresses assessment, a perpetual concern of those inter-

ested in creating a valid, transparent, coherent, and contextually sensi-tive assessment procedure based on the CEFR. Detailed tables areprovided throughout; for example, sample assessment grids forspeaking and writing incorporating the qualitative dimensions of lan-guage production from Table 3 of the CEFR, or guidelines for thedevelopment of tests of the receptive skills. Examples of other topicsdiscussed include quality control, norm-referenced testing, and link-

ing teacher marks to CEFR levels over time. The “Issues” section dis-cusses reliability and dependability, different methods for relating testscores to CEFR levels, and criterion referencing.

The concluding chapter discusses progress on the aims of the CEFRand considers future challenges. Questions such as developing theCEFR into a common world framework and the reform of languageeducation are broached.

The global impact of the CEFR has been significant and North of-fers us a practical overview of evidence of the CEFR in action. This

makes the book an excellent resource for all provincial and territorialMinistry of Education languages personnel, school-board L2 consul-tants, L2-teacher trainers and those who want to better understandhow to apply the CEFR to their own context. North has done a fine job

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of offering readers access to useful work that has already been donewith the CEFR in different jurisdictions and of providing differentperspectives on CEFR-related issues that we continue to debate in

Canada today.

Larry Vandergrift, University of Ottawa

References

Council of Europe (COE). (2001). A Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge, England: Cambridge

University Press.

Vandergrift, L. (2006). Proposal for a common framework of reference for languages for

Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Heritage, Queen’s Printer.

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The CEFR in France