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

Mediation strategies reflect ways of coping with the demands of using finite
resources to process information and establish equivalent meaning. The process may
Language use and the language user/learner 
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involve some pre-planning to organise and maximise resources (Developing background
knowledge; Locating supports; Preparing a glossary) as well as consideration of how to tackle
the task at hand (Considering the interlocutors’ needs; Selecting the size of interpretation unit).
During the process of interpretation, glossing, or translation, the mediator needs to look
ahead at what is coming next whilst formulating what has just been said, generally jug-
gling with two different ‘chunks’ or interpretation units simultaneously (Previewing). He
or she needs to note ways of expressing things to extend his or her glossary (Noting pos-
sibilities, equivalences), and to construct islands of reliability, (prefabricated chunks) which
free up processing capacity for previewing. On the other hand he or she also needs to use
techniques to skate over uncertainty and avoid breakdown – whilst maintaining preview-
ing (Bridging gaps). Evaluation takes place at a communicative level (Checking congruence)
and at a linguistic level (Checking consistency of usage) and, certainly with written transla-
tion, leads to repair through consultation of reference works and people knowledgeable
in the field concerned (refining by consulting dictionaries, thesaurus; consulting experts, sources).
•
Planning
Developing background knowledge;
Locating supports;
Preparing a glossary;
Considering interlocutors’ needs;
Selecting unit of interpretation.
•
Execution
Previewing: processing input and formulating the last chunk simulta-
neously in real time;
Noting possibilities, equivalences;
Bridging gaps.
•
Evaluation
Checking congruence of two versions;
Checking consistency of usage.
•
Repair
Refining by consulting dictionaries, thesaurus;
Consulting experts, sources.
No illustrative scales are yet available.
4.4.5
Non-verbal communication
4.4.5.1