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

9.2
The Framework as a resource for assessment 
9.2.1
The specification of the content of tests and examinations
The description of ‘Language Use and the Language User’, in Chapter 4 and in particular
section 4.4 on ‘Communicative Language Activities’, can be consulted when drawing up
a task specification for a communicative assessment. It is increasingly recognised that
valid assessment requires the sampling of a range of relevant types of discourse. For
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment
178

---

example, in relation to the testing of speaking, a recently developed test illustrates this
point. First, there is a simulated Conversation which functions as a warm up; then there
is an Informal Discussion of topical issues in which the candidate declares an interest. This
is followed by a Transaction phase, which takes the form either of a face-to-face or simu-
lated telephone information seeking activity. This is followed by a Production phase, based
upon a written Report in which the candidate gives a Description of his/her academic field
and plans. Finally there is a Goal-orientated Co-operation, a consensus task between candi-
dates.
To summarise, the Framework categories for communicative activities employed are:
Interaction
Production
(Spontaneous, short turns)
(Prepared, long turns)
Spoken:
Conversation
Description of his/her academic field
Informal discussion
Goal-orientated co-operation
Written:
Report/Description of his/her academic field
In constructing the detail of the task specifications the user may wish to consult section
4.1, on ‘the context of language use’ (domains, conditions and constraints, mental
context), section 4.6 on ‘Texts’, and Chapter 7 on ‘Tasks and their Role in Language
Teaching’, specifically section 7.3 on ‘Task difficulty’.
Section 5.2 on ‘Communicative language competences’ will inform the construction
of the test items, or phases of a spoken test, in order to elicit evidence of the relevant lin-
guistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences. The set of content specifications at
Threshold Level produced by the Council of Europe for over 20 European languages (see
Bibliography items listed on p. 200) and at Waystage and Vantage Level for English, plus
their equivalents when developed for other languages and levels, can be seen as ancillary
to the main Framework document. They offer examples of a further layer of detail to
inform test construction for Levels A1, A2, B1 and B2.
9.2.2
The criteria for the attainment of a learning objective
The scales provide a source for the development of rating scales for the assessment of the
attainment of a particular learning objective and the descriptors may assist in the for-
mulation of criteria. The objective may be a broad level of general language proficiency,
expressed as a Common Reference Level (e.g. B1). It may on the other hand be a specific
constellation of activities, skills and competences as discussed in section 6.1.4 on ‘Partial
Competences and Variation in Objectives in relation to the Framework’. Such a modular
objective might be profiled on a grid of categories by levels, such as that presented in
Table 2.
In discussing the use of descriptors it is essential to make a distinction between:
1.
Descriptors of communicative activities, which are located in Chapter 4.
2.
Descriptors of aspects of proficiency related to particular competences, which are
located in Chapter 5.
Assessment
179

---

The former are very suitable for teacher- or self-assessment with regard to real-world
tasks. Such teacher- or self-assessments are made on the basis of a detailed picture of the
learner’s language ability built up during the course concerned. They are attractive
because they can help to focus both learners and teachers on an action-oriented approach.
However, it is not usually advisable to include descriptors of communicative activities
in the criteria for an assessor to rate performance in a particular speaking or writing test
if one is interested in reporting results in terms of a level of proficiency attained. This is
because to report on proficiency, the assessment should not be primarily concerned with
any one particular performance, but should rather seek to judge the generalisable com-
petences evidenced by that performance. There may of course be sound educational
reasons for focusing on success at completing a given activity, especially with younger
Basic Users (Levels A1; A2). Such results will be less generalisable, but generalisability of
results is not usually the focus of attention in the earlier stages of language learning. 
This reinforces the fact that assessments can have many different functions. What is
appropriate for one assessment purpose may be inappropriate for another.
9.2.2.1
Descriptors of communicative activities
Descriptors of communicative activities (Chapter 4) can be used in three separate ways
in relation to the attainment of objectives.
1.