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

7.3
Task difficulty
Individuals may differ considerably in their approach to the same task. Consequently the
difficulty of any particular task for an individual, and the strategies which he or she
adopts to cope with the demands of the task, are the result of a number of interrelated
factors arising from his or her competences (general and communicative) and individual
Tasks and their role in language teaching
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characteristics, and the specific conditions and constraints under which the task is
carried out. For these reasons the ease or difficulty of tasks cannot be predicted with cer-
tainty, least of all for individual learners, and in language learning contexts considera-
tion needs to be given to ways of building flexibility and differentiation into task design
and implementation.
In spite of the problems associated with establishing task difficulty, the effective use
of classroom learning experiences requires a principled and coherent approach to task
selection and sequencing. This means taking into account the specific competences of
the learner and factors that affect task difficulty, and manipulating task parameters in
order to modify the task according to the needs and capabilities of the learner. 
In considering levels of task difficulty, therefore, it is necessary to take into account: 
•
user/learner’s competences and characteristics, including the learner’s own pur-
poses and learning style;
•
task conditions and constraints which may affect the language user/learner’s perfor-
mance in carrying out specific tasks, and which, in learning contexts, may be
adjusted to accommodate learner competences and characteristics.
7.3.1
Learner competences and learner characteristics
The learner’s different competences are closely related to individual characteristics of a
cognitive, affective and linguistic nature which need to be taken into account in estab-
lishing the potential difficulty of a given task for a particular learner.
7.3.1.1
Cognitive factors