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Subject: Implementing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Lessons for Future Research
Date: November 4, 2013 12:21:42 PM CST
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Canadian Modern Language Review/ La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes
Volume 69, Number 4, November 2013
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/v10533h3g288/
Implementing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Lessons for Future Research
Tirer des leçons des recherches empiriques sur la mise en oeuvre du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues et du Portfolio europe´en des langues pour les recherches futures
Guest Editors - David Little, Shelley K. Taylor

This issue contains:

Introduction / introduction
Since its publication in 2001 the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) has established itself as a key reference in international discussion of proficiency in second and foreign languages. The CEFR represents the culmination of three decades of collaborative research, and it unites two apparently opposed tendencies in the Council of Europe’s work on language teaching and learning. On the one hand, its definition of proficiency in terms of the individual user-learner’s capacity for communicative task performance goes back to its roots in the adult education projects of the 1970s. The Council’s first work in modern languages was carried out under the auspices of the Committee for Out-of-School Education, which was strongly in favour of learner autonomy and self-assessment and strongly opposed to formal exams; from the beginning, great emphasis was laid on
language learning appropriate to the individual user-learner’s communicative purposes…. Excerpt from Introduction DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.69.4.00i
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/br01v6j61562u368/?p=516c8175febd4ca7a18b189f125a3d9c&pi=0

Relating a Reading Comprehension Test to the CEFR Levels: A Case of Standard Setting in Practice with Focus on Judges and Items
Neus Figueras, Felianka Kaftandjieva, Sauli Takala

The article addresses some problems and options in setting standards on language tests and examinations. More specifically, it reports on a set of three workshops conducted in the European context where standard setting in language education typically concerns linking tests and examinations to the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) published in 2001. The context of the workshops and the standard-setting procedures are described, and the results and their interpretations are discussed. The focus in the article is on judges (panels) and items, which are considered the most important determinants in valid standard setting (cut scores). DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1723.359
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/u7l74j1871u58421/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=1

(Re) conceptualiser l’enseignement d’une langue seconde à l’aide d’outils d’évaluations:comment les enseignants canadiens perçoivent le CECR
Enrica Piccardo

The growth of interest in the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in Canada has moved from academic discussions and feasibility studies to the publication of institutional documents informing language education policies. Far less attention has been given so far to the need for professional development aimed at helping teachers grasp the conceptual density of the document. Following an exploratory phase aimed at investigating issues and challenges teachers are faced with in the domain of assessment, a qualitative study was conducted in the Canadian context to investigate the impact of targeted professional development on teachers’ perceptions of the potential of the CEFR. The results of the study show how a four-phase guided reflective process can help teachers overcome their perception of the CEFR as a standard setting tool and consider the vision of assessment it proposes as a way for deeply questioning their own teaching practice.DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1737.386
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/v6q282255t4qpq0x/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=2

Adapting the CEFR for the Classroom Assessment of Young Learners’ Writing
Angela Hasselgreen

This article concerns the contribution that feedback makes to valid classroom assessment of the writing of young learners (YLs), defined here as approximately 9–13 years old. It shows that a scale of descriptors adapted from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) can play a central role in this assessment. The article presents a research project, AYLLIT (Assessment of Young Learner Literacy), which developed a CEFR-based instrument and guidelines for teachers, to provide their pupils with feedback that may allow them to see progress and lead to further learning. It sets out the procedures followed in the project and examines the extent to which its outcomes enable teachers to give feedback that contributes to valid classroom assessment. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1705.415
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/u16612u77q18j526/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=3

A Corpus-Based Assessment of French CEFR Lexical Content
Françoise Kusseling, Deryle Lonsdale

The French CEFR vocabulary profiles as presented in the Référentiels – while a valuable resource for a wide range of applications focused on lexical content – result from introspection, intuition-based judgements, and unquantifiable experience. The result is a specification of vocabulary that has been largely untested from a corpus-based, empirical perspective. In contrast, the English profiles were corpus-derived using current computational practices by English Profile, an ongoing project. In this article we summarize our evaluation of the French profiles by comparing their content with two sizable contemporary corpora and derived artifacts. We quantify the vocabulary overlap and uniqueness across all three of these resources. This leads us to make recommendations about possible ways of refining French CEFR vocabulary content by retaining, adding, and removing vocabulary items. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1726.436
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/l651518444416543/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=4

Experiences with Autonomy: Learners’ Voices on Language Learning
Paula Kristmanson, Chantal Lafargue, Karla Culligan

This article focuses on the experiences of Grade 12 students using a language portfolio based on the principles and guidelines of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) in their second language classes in a large urban high school. As part of a larger action-research project, focus group interviews were conducted to gather data related to experiences and perceptions regarding second language learning. In particular, the research questions focused on the learners’ experiences with the language portfolio and its potential role in contributing to learner autonomy. Three overarching themes emerged from the data collected from learners who participated in this study. These themes related to general perceptions of learning, to language learning experiences, and to experiences with the language portfolio. The article concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical linkages to learner autonomy and suggests implications for educators who wish to promote learner autonomy. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1723.462
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/uvn0572453083w15/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=5

FOCUS ON THE CLASSROOM / PLEINS FEUX SUR LA CLASSE
L’intégration du Portfolio européen des langues en milieu ouest-canadien minoritaire et universitaire
Eva Lemaire

Dans le cadre d’un cours en éducation jumelé avec un cours de français, nous avons proposé à nos étudiants de réaliser un portfolio langagier inspiré du portfolio Laplante et Christiansen (2001) mais reprenant également des éléments des Principes et Lignes Directrices du Portfolio Européen des Langues (PEL) (Conseil de la coopération culturelle, 2000). Il s’agissait, avec cette expérience, d’aider nos étudiants francophones de l’ouest canadien à mieux appréhender leur répertoire langagier et identitaire, et à se fixer des objectifs de développement langagier, tout en se familiarisant avec un référentiel de compétences de plus en plus relayé par les conseils scolaires locaux. Il s’agissait également d’explorer dans quelle mesure le PEL pouvait se montrer pertinent à des fins d’éducation interculturelle, le but étant d’amener nos étudiants à réfléchir sur les dynamiques complexes qui se nouent entre les différentes composantes de la francophonie ouest-canadienne. Enfin, cette recherche exploratoire a permis de co-construire avec nos étudiants une approche critique de la version française du PEL (Conseil de l’Europe / CRDP Basse-Normandie) utilisée dans une optique de contextualisation future. Le présent article fait état du contexte et du projet tel qu’il a été mis en place, décrit le protocole méthodologique et dégage les premiers enseignements de la recherche. DOI: 10.3138/cmlr.1273.487
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/e5hj72m6161r7165/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=6

Book and Software Reviews / Critiques de livres et de logiciels

M. Byram and L. Parmenter (Eds.), The Common European Framework of Reference: The Globalisation of Language Education Policy, reviewed by David Little
E. Huver et C. Springer, L’évaluation en langues, reviewed by Enrica Piccardo
B. Kühn & M.L. Pérez Cavana (Eds.), Perspectives from the European Language Portfolio: Learner Autonomy and Self-assessment, reviewed by Laura Hermans-Nymark
DOI: 10.3138/69.4.514
http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/6x5n278487781ng3/?p=536e8b25cf984c40b3173ad786f53318&pi=7

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The Canadian Modern Language Review publishes peer-reviewed articles on second language learning and teaching. It is a bilingual (French and English) journal of international repute, serving researchers and language teaching professionals interested in the learning and teaching of English and French as second languages, as well as other modern, indigenous, heritage, and community languages.
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