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

2.4
Language assessment
The CEF is ‘A common European framework for language learning, teaching and assess-
ment’. Up to this point, the focus has been upon the nature of language use and the lan-
guage user and the implications for learning and teaching.
In Chapter 9, the final chapter, attention is concentrated on the functions of the
Framework in relation to the assessment of language proficiency. The chapter outlines
three main ways in which the Framework can be used:
1.
for the specification of the content of tests and examinations.
2.
for stating the criteria for the attainment of a learning objective, both in relation to
the assessment of a particular spoken or written performance, and in relation to con-
tinuous teacher-, peer- or self-assessment.
3.
for describing the levels of proficiency in existing tests and examinations thus ena-
bling comparisons to be made across different systems of qualifications.
The chapter then lays out in some detail the choices that have to be made by those con-
ducting assessment procedures. The choices are presented in the form of contrasting
pairs. In each case the terms used are clearly defined and the relative advantages and dis-
advantages are discussed in relation to the purpose of the assessment in its educational
context. The implications of exercising one or another of the alternative options are also
stated.
The chapter proceeds to consider questions of feasibility in assessment. The approach
is based on the observation that a practical scheme of assessment cannot be over elab-
orate. Judgement must be used as to the amount of detail to be included, for instance, in
a published examination syllabus, in relation to the very detailed decisions that have to
be made in setting an actual examination paper or establishing a test bank. Assessors, par-
ticularly of oral performance, have to work under considerable time pressure and can
only handle a strictly limited number of criteria. Learners who wish to assess their own
proficiency, say as a guide to what they should tackle next, have more time, but will need
to be selective concerning the components of overall communicative competence rele-
vant to them. This illustrates the more general principle that the Framework must be com-
prehensive, but all its users must be selective. Selectivity may well involve the use of a
simpler classificatory scheme which, as we have seen in relation to ‘communicative activ-
ities’ may well collapse categories separated in the general scheme. On the other hand,
the user’s purposes may well mean expanding some categories and their exponents in
Approach adopted
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areas of special relevance. The chapter discusses the issues raised and illustrates the dis-
cussion by presenting the schemes adopted by a number of examining bodies for profi-
ciency assessment criteria.
For many users, Chapter 9 will enable them to approach public examination syllabuses
in a more insightful and critical manner, raising their expectations of what information
examining bodies should provide concerning the objectives, content, criteria and proce-
dures for qualifying examinations at national and international level (e.g. ALTE, ICC).
Teacher trainers will find it useful for raising awareness of assessment issues among
teachers in initial and in-service training. However, teachers are becoming increasingly
responsible for the assessment of their pupils and students at all levels, both formative
and summative. Learners, too, are increasingly called upon to carry out self-assessment,
whether to chart and plan their learning or to report their ability to communicate in lan-
guages which they have not been formally taught, but which contribute to their pluri-
lingual development.
The introduction of a