The Common European Framework in its political and educational context What is the Common European Framework?

Type of response required
While a text may be relatively difficult the type of response required by the task which
is set may be manipulated in order to accommodate the learner’s competences and char-
acteristics. Task design may also depend on whether the aim is to develop comprehen-
sion skills or to check understanding. Accordingly, the type of response demanded may
vary considerably, as numerous typologies of comprehension tasks illustrate.
A comprehension task may require global or selective comprehension, or under-
standing of important points of detail. Certain tasks may require the reader/listener
to show understanding of the main information clearly stated in a text, while others
may require the use of inferencing skills. A task may be summative (to be completed
on the basis of the complete text), or may be structured so as to relate to manageable
units (e.g. accompanying each section of a text) and thus making less demands on
memory.
The response may be non-verbal (no overt response or a simple action such as ticking
a picture) or a verbal response (spoken or written) may be required. The latter may, for
instance, involve identifying and reproducing information from a text for a particular
purpose or may, for example, require the learner to complete the text or to produce a new
text through related interaction or production tasks. 
The time allowed for the response may be varied so as to decrease or increase task dif-
ficulty. The more time a listener or reader has to replay or reread a text, the more he or
she is likely to understand and the greater the opportunity to apply a range of strategies
for coping with difficulties in understanding the text.
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment
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Users of the Framework may wish to consider and where appropriate state:
•
principles for the selection and weighting of ‘real life’ and ‘pedagogic’ tasks for their
purposes, including the appropriateness of different types of tasks in particular learning
contexts;
•
the criteria for selecting tasks which are purposeful and meaningful for the learner, and
provide a challenging but realistic and attainable goal, involving the learner as fully as
possible, and allowing for differing learner interpretations and outcomes;
•
the relationship between tasks that are primarily meaning-oriented and learning
experiences specifically focused on form so that the learner’s attention might be focused in
a regular and useful manner on both aspects in a balanced approach to the development
of accuracy and fluency;
•
ways of taking into account the pivotal role of the learner’s strategies in relating
competences and performance in the successful accomplishment of challenging tasks under
varying conditions and constraints (see section 4.4); ways of facilitating successful task
accomplishment and learning (including activation of the learner’s prior competences in a
preparatory phase);
•
criteria and options for selecting tasks, and where appropriate manipulating task
parameters in order to modify the level of task difficulty so as to accommodate learners’
differing and developing competences, and diversity in learner characteristics (ability,
motivation, needs, interests);
•
how the perceived level of difficulty of a task might be taken into account in the evaluation
of successful task completion and in (self) assessment of the learner’s communicative
competence (Chapter 9).
Tasks and their role in language teaching
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