CEFR-informed Learning, Teaching and Assessment A Practical Guide

This book is a practical guide to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) (Council of Europe 2001) and the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/ CV; COE 2018), which have increasingly been used to inform the language policies and teaching practices of countries within and outside of Europe. It helps practitioners to (i) grasp essential and core concepts of the Common European Framework of Reference, (ii) identify parts of the CEFR and the CEFR/CV as well as other CEFR-related resources and documents that are relevant for readers’ different purposes, and (iii) utilise and adapt these resources for their own needs. Written by practitioners for practitioners, this hands-on guide covers the philosophy of the CEFR, curricula, assessment, learner autonomy, the task-based approach, and teacher development. 

Logically explaining all aspects of the framework and its application, this manual helps readers deal with many of the difficulties encountered when using CEFR and the CEFR CV.

The book will appeal to a wide audience, including teacher educators; curriculum and materials developers; examination boards unfamiliar with the CEFR; university language departments and language centres responsible for developing their own curricula, teaching/learning approaches and assessment instruments; and policy-makers wanting to learn more about the implications of adopting the CEFR. It is a guidebook, a reference book and a workbook all in your hand.

Noriko Nagai, a Professor at Ibaraki University, received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include cross-linguistic influence, explicit instruction of English grammar based on comparative analyses of English and Japanese, criterial lexical and grammatical features, and the implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference to English education in the Japanese higher education context.

 

Gregory Birch, a Professor at Seisen Jogakuin College in Nagano, Japan, holds an MSc Degree in TESOL from Aston University and an MA in Japanese Language and Society from Sheffield University. His current research concerns the implementation of the European Language Portfolio in Japan. He has also presented and written articles on task-based learning, in-service teacher training for Japanese teachers of English, and the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme.

Jack Bower is an Associate Professor at Tezukayama University in Nara, Japan. He holds a Ph. D. in linguistics from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Jack’s research interests include foreign language assessment and utilising the Common European Framework of Reference for curriculum development and renewal.

Maria Gabriela Schmidt is a Professor at Nihon University, College of Humanities and Sciences in Tokyo, Japan. She received her PhD in Comparative Linguistics from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. Her research interests include applied linguistics, phonetics and phonology, history of language, intercultural communication and the Common European Framework of Reference.