Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, or CEF, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe. It was put together by the Council of Europe as the main part of the project "Language Learning for European Citizenship" between 1989 and 1996. Its main aim is to provide a method of assessing and teaching which applies to all the European Union's languages. In November 2001 a European Union Council Resolution recommended using the CEF to set up systems of validation of language ability.
Development
In 1991 the Swiss Federal Authorities held an Intergovernmental Symposium in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, on "Transparency and Coherence in Language Learning in Europe: Objectives, Evaluation, Certification". This symposium found that a Common European Framework for languages was needed to improve the recognition of language qualifications and help teachers co-operate, eventually leading to improved communication and cooperation generally in Europe.
As a result of the symposium, the Swiss National Science Research Council set up a project to develop levels of proficiency, to lead on to the creation of a "European Language Portfolio" - certification in language ability which can be used across Europe.
Levels
The Common European Framework divides learners into three broad divisions which can be divided into six levels:
- A Basic User
- A1 Breakthrough
- A2 Waystage
- B Independent User
- B1 Threshold
- B2 Vantage
- C Proficient User
- C1 Effective Operational Proficiency
- C2 Mastery
The CEF describes what a learner can do in listening, speaking and writing at each level, in detail, for example this descriptor for C2:
- "Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations."
These descriptors can apply to any of the languages spoken in the European Union, and there are translations in all these languages.
Use in language testing
The ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) "Can Do" project developed a simplified set of 400+ descriptors for language examinations which relate to the Common Reference Levels. These descriptors are in the form of "can-do statements", each saying more simply what a learner can do at every level. There are four sections: general, social/ tourist, work and study. The ALTE project also gave its own names to the CEF levels: "Breakthrough level" - "Level 5".
The ALTE was founded by the University of Cambridge so the first exams to be related to their "Can-Do" statements were the Cambridge EFL exams. However, today many more examining boards link their exams to the system. Below is a table of some examinations as an example.
| ALTE level | CEF level | Goethe-Institut exam | Alliance Française exam | Cambridge exam |
| Level 5 | C2 | Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung, Kleines Dt. Sprachdiplom | - | CPE |
| Level 4 | C1 | Zentrale Mittelstufenprüfung, Prüfung Wirtschaftsdeutsch | Diplôme Supérieur d’Etudes Françaises Modernes | CAE |
| Level 3 | B2 | Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf | Diplôme de Langue Française | FCE |
| Level 2 | B1 | Zertifikat Deutsch | Certificat d’Etudes de Français Pratique II | PET |
| Level 1 | A2 | Start Deutsch 2 | Certificat d’Etudes de Français Pratique I | KET |
| Breakthrough level | A1 | Start Deutsch 1 | - | - |