Common European Framework of Reference

for Languages
CEFR redirects here. For the Chinese nuclear reactor, projects, which included linking a single test to the CEFR,
see China Experimental Fast Reactor.
linking suites of exams at dierent levels, and national
studies by exam boards and research institutes. Practitioners and academics shared their experiences at a colThe Common European Framework of Reference
[1] loquium in Cambridge in 2007 and the pilot case studies
for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment,
and ndings were published in Studies in Language Testabbreviated as CEFR or CEF, is a guideline used to
[2]
describe achievements of learners of foreign languages ing (SiLT). The ndings from the pilot projects then
informed the Manual revision project during 2008-2009.
across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries (for
example, Colombia and the Philippines). It was put together by the Council of Europe as the main part of the
project Language Learning for European Citizenship 2 Theoretical background
between 1989 and 1996. Its main aim is to provide a
method of learning, teaching and assessing which applies The CEFR adopts an action-oriented approach that, acto all languages in Europe. In November 2001, a Euro- cording to Carlos Csar Jimnez of Universidad Nacional
pean Union Council Resolution recommended using the Autnoma de Mxico, can be traced back to theoretiCEFR to set up systems of validation of language abil- cal proposals made by philosophers of language such as
ity. The six reference levels (see below) are becoming Ludwig Wittgenstein in the 1950s and sociolinguists such
widely accepted as the European standard for grading an as Dell Hymes.[3] The approach regards language users as
individuals language prociency.
social agents who develop general and particular communicative competences while trying to achieve their everyday goals.

Development

The CEFR divides general competences in knowledge

(descriptive knowledge), skills, and existential competence
with particular communicative competences in linguistic
competence, sociolinguistic competence, and pragmatic
competence. This division does not exactly match previously well-known notions of communicative competence,
but correspondences among them can be made.[4]

In 1991, the Swiss Federal Authorities held an

intergovernmental
symposium
in
Rschlikon,
Switzerland, with the topic Transparency and Coherence in Language Learning in Europe: Objectives,
Evaluation, Certication. This symposium found that a
common European framework for languages was needed
to improve the recognition of language qualications
and help teachers co-operate, eventually leading to improved communication and cooperation among language
teachers in Europe.

The CEFR has three principal dimensions: language activities, the domains in which the language activities occur, and the competences on which we draw when we
engage in them.[5]

The CEFR is also intended to make it easier for edu- Language activities
cational institutions and employers to evaluate the language qualications of candidates to education admission The CEFR distinguishes between four kinds of language
or employment.
activities: reception (listening and reading), production
As a result of the symposium, the Swiss National Sci- (spoken and written), interaction (spoken and written),
[5]
ence Foundation set up a project to develop levels of pro- and mediation (translating and interpreting).
ciency, to lead on to the creation of a European Language Portfolio certication in language ability which Domains
can be used across Europe.
General and particular communicative competences are
developed by producing or receiving texts in various contexts under various conditions and constraints. These
contexts correspond to various sectors of social life that

A preliminary version of the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was published
in 2003. This draft version was piloted in a number of
1

6 COMPARISONS BETWEEN CEFR AND OTHER SCALES

the CEFR calls domains. Four broad domains are distin- national association of institutions and organisations inguished: educational, occupational, public, and personal. volved in language education, active throughout Europe,
and following the CEFR.[11]
Competences

In France, the Ministry for Education has created a

government-mandated certicate called CLES, which
A language user can develop various degrees of compe- formalizes the use of the CEFR in French teaching pro[12]
tence in each of these domains and to help describe them grams in higher education.
the CEFR has provided a set of six Common Reference In Germany, telc GmbH, a non-prot agency, is the fedLevels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2).
eral governments exclusive partner for language tests

Common reference levels

taken at the end of the integration courses for migrants,

following the CEFR standards.[13]

The Common European Framework divides learners into 6 Comparisons between CEFR and
three broad divisions that can be divided into six levels;
other scales
for each level, it describes what a learner is supposed to
be able to do in reading, listening, speaking and writing.
These levels are:
6.1 General scales
These descriptors can apply to any of the languages spoken in Europe, and there are translations in many lan- Studies have addressed correspondence with the ACTFL
Prociency Guidelines and the United States ILR scale.
guages.

Relationship with duration of

learning process

Deutsche Welle suggests A1 is reached with about 75

hours of German studies, A2.1 with about 150 hours,
A2.2 with about 225 hours, B1.1 with about 300 hours,
and B1.2 with about 400 hours.[6]
Cambridge English Language Assessment said that each
level is reached with the following guided learning hours:
A2, 180200; B1, 350400; B2, 500600; C1, 700800,
and C2, 1,0001,200.[7]

For convenience, the following abbreviations will be used

for the ACTFL levels:
NL/NM/NH Novice Low/Mid/High
IL/IM/IH Intermediate Low/Mid/High
AL/AM/AH Advanced Low/Mid/High
S Superior
D Distinguished (a name sometimes used for levels
4 and 4+ of the ILR scale instead of including them
within Superior)

Alliance Franaise has stated students can expect to reach

CEFR levels after the following cumulative hours of in- A 2008 statistical study by Alfonso Martnez Baztn of
struction: A1 60100, A2 160200, B1 360400, B2 Universidad de Granada based on the performances of a
group of subjects[14] determines the following ordering of
560650, C1 810950, C2 10601200.[8]
the ACTFL and CEFR levels, in which higher levels are
placed further right.[15]

Certication
and
teaching
ecosystem enabled by the CEFR

Multiple organizations have been created to serve as umbrella for language schools and certications businesses
that claim compatibility with the CEFR. For example, the
European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA) is an initiative funded by the European
Community[9] to promote the CEFR and best practices in
delivering professional language trainings. The Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) is a consortium of academic organizations that aims at standardizing
assessment methods.[10] EAQUALS (Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality in Language Services) is an inter-

NL___NM__A1___NH___A2/IL_____IM__B1____IH____B2
_AL____ AM__C1___AH___C2__S_
The following table summarizes the results of Martnez
Baztn,[16] the equivalences between CEFR and ACTFL
standards proposed in a 2005 paper by Erwin Tschirner
of Universitt Leipzig[17][18] (also quoted by Martnez
Baztn[19] ), and the equivalences of Buitrago (unpublished, 2006) as quoted in Martnez Baztn 2008.[20]
In a panel discussion at the Osaka University of Foreign
Studies, one of the coauthors of the CEFR, Brian North,
stated that a sensible hypothesis would be for C2 to
correspond to Distinguished, C1 to Superior, B2 to
Advanced-mid, and B1 to Intermediate-high in the
ACTFL system.[21]

3
This agrees with a table published by the American 8 Other applications
University Center of Provence giving the following
correspondences:[22]
The CEFR methodology has been extended to describe
A study by Buck, Papageorgiou and Platzek[23] addresses and evaluate the prociency of users of programming lanthe correspondence between the diculty of test items guages, when the programming activity is considered as
[75]
under the CEFR and ILR standards. The most common a language activity.
ILR levels for items of given CEFR diculty were as follows:

9 See also

ReadingA1: 1, A2: 1, B1: 1+, B2: 2+, C1: 3

ListeningA1: 0+/1, A2: 1, B1: 1+, B2: 2, C1: 2+
(at least)[24]
Canada increasingly uses the CEFR in a few domains.
CEFR-compatible exams such as the DELF/DALF
(French) and the DELE (Spanish) are administered. Universities increasingly structure their courses around the
CERF levels. Larry Vandergrift of the University of Ottawa has proposed Canadian adoption of the CEFR in
his report Proposal for a Common Framework of Reference for Languages for Canada published by Heritage
Canada.[25][26] This report contains a comparison of the
CEFR to other standards in use in Canada and proposes
an equivalence table.
The resulting correspondence between the ILR and
ACTFL scales disagrees with the generally accepted
one.[29] The ACTFL standards were developed so that
Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Superior would correspond to 0/0+, 1/1+, 2/2+ and 3/3+, respectively on the
ILR scale.[30] Also, the ILR and NB OPS scales do not
correspond despite the fact that the latter was modelled
on the former.[26]
A more recent document by Macdonald and
Vandergrift[31] estimates the following correspondences (for oral ability) between the Public Service
Commission levels and the CEFR levels:
Language school may also propose their own equivalence
tables. For example, the Vancouver English Centre provides a comprehensive equivalence table between the various forms of the TOEFL test, the Cambridge exam, the
VEC level system and the CEFR.[32]

6.2

Language-specic scales

Diculty to align the CEFR with

teaching programmes

Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills

European Day of Languages 26 September
ILR or Foreign Service Level language ability measures
List of language prociency tests
Studies in Language Testing (SiLT)
Task-based language learning

10 References
[1] Council of Europe (2011). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching,
Assessment. Council of Europe.
[2] Studies in Language Testing (Amazon) (book description)
33, UK, retrieved 2013-10-23.
[3] Jimenez, Carlos Csar (2011). El Marco Europeo Comn
de Referencia para las Lenguas y la comprensin terica
del conocimiento del lenguaje: exploracin de una normatividad exible para emprender acciones educativas (PDF)
(essay). Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico. p.
9.
[4] Jimenez, Carlos Csar (2011). El Marco Europeo Comn
de Referencia para las Lenguas y la comprensin terica
del conocimiento del lenguaje: exploracin de una normatividad exible para emprender acciones educativas (PDF)
(Essay). Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico. p.
11.
[5] The Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR)".
Council of Europe. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
[6] Deutsche Welle. Deutschkurse.dw-world.de. Retrieved
2011-08-14.
[7] CEFR and ALTE Can Do statements. Retrieved 201112-05.
[8] http://www.alliancefr.ph/en/
how-long-will-it-take-me-to-speak-french

Language schools and certicate bodies evaluate their

own equivalences against the framework. Dierences of [9] European Association for Language Testing and Assessment. EALTA. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
estimation have been found to exist, for example, with the
same level on the PTE A, TOEFL, and IELTS, and is a [10] Association of Language Testers in Europe. ALTE. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
cause of debate between test producers.[74]

10

[11] EAquals Our aims. EAquals. Retrieved 2014-07-18.

[12] Certicate de Comptences en Langues de
l'Enseignement Suprieur.
SPIRAL. Retrieved
2014-07-18.
[13] The European Language Certicate. telc. Retrieved
2014-07-18.
[14] Baztn, Alfonso Martnez (2008). La evaluacin oral:
una equivalencia entre las guidelines de ACTFL y algunas
escalas del MCER (PDF) (doctoral thesis). Universidad de
Granada. ISBN 978-84-338-4961-8.
[15] Baztn, Alfonso Martnez (2008). La evaluacin oral:
una equivalencia entre las guidelines de ACTFL y algunas
escalas del MCER (PDF) (doctoral thesis). Universidad
de Granada. p. 459. ISBN 978-84-338-4961-8.
[16] Baztn, Alfonso Martnez (2008). La evaluacin oral:
una equivalencia entre las guidelines de ACTFL y algunas
escalas del MCER (PDF) (doctoral thesis). Universidad
de Granada. p. 461. ISBN 978-84-338-4961-8.
[17] Tschirner, Erwin (February 2005). Das ACTFL OPI und
der Europische Referenzrahmen. Babylonia-ti.ch.
[18]
[19] Baztn, Alfonso Martnez (2008). La evaluacin oral:
una equivalencia entre las guidelines de ACTFL y algunas
escalas del MCER (PDF) (doctoral thesis). Universidad
de Granada. p. 468. ISBN 978-84-338-4961-8.
[20] Baztn, Alfonso Martnez (2008). La evaluacin oral:
una equivalencia entre las guidelines de ACTFL y algunas
escalas del MCER (PDF) (doctoral thesis). Universidad
de Granada. pp. 46970. ISBN 978-84-338-4961-8.
[21] A reference of the talk can be found in the EP Bibliography of English Prole, under Gerneral materials and
then under North 2006, Link to English Prole (Bibliography)
[22] The correspondences are attributed by the center to an
ACTFL administrator (PDF).
[23] PowerPoint Presentation (PDF). Retrieved 2013-05-02.
[24] Level 2+ was the highest possible classication for listening items.

REFERENCES

[31] Jennifer Macdonald; Larry Vandergrift (68 Feb 2007).

The CEFR in Canada (PowerPoint Presentation).
Council of Europe. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
[32] TOEFL Equivalency table. Vancouver English Centre.
Retrieved 2014-07-18.
[33] Statement of the Association of Chinese Teachers in German Speaking Countries on the new HSK Chinese Prociency Test
[34] http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?subject=116
[35] http://ujop.cuni.cz/cce
[36] http://www.lttc.ntu.edu.tw/cambridge/Reference/
framework_english.pdf
[37] What is the TestDaF?" (PDF). TestDaF. Retrieved 201507-22.
[38] Framework of Reference for Languages (PDF).
TestDaF. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
[39] Information for the Centre for the Greek Language and
the certicate of attainment in Greek. Retrieved 201208-07.
[40] TrackTest Language levels.
2013-12-12.

TrackTest.

Retrieved

[41] IELTS Common European Framework. IELTS. Retrieved 2013-01-04.

[42] IELTS and the Cambridge ESOL examinations in a European context (PDF). British Council. Retrieved 201408-03.
[43] IELTS band scores & CEF level scale for Clarity programs (PDF). Clarity English. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
[44] Mapping TOEIC and TOEIC Bridge on the Common
European Framework Reference (PDF). ETS. Retrieved
2011-09-22.
[45] Feifei Ye, Validity, reliability, and concordance of
the Duolingo English Test. https://s3.amazonaws.com/
duolingo-certifications-data/CorrelationStudy.pdf
[46] https://www.ets.org/toefl/institutions/scores/compare/
#cefr

[25] New Canadian Perspectives (PDF). Canadian Heritage.

Retrieved August 2011.

[47] Research. Retrieved 2013-02-25.

[26] Proposal of a CFR for Canada.

implementation.ecml.at. Retrieved 2011-08-14.

Elp-

[48] Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)".

Retrieved 2013-02-25.

[27] Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour / ducation postsecondaire, Formation et Travail. Gnb.ca.
Retrieved 2013-05-02.

[49] https://www.efset.org/dam/efset/efset/media/summary_
v4.pdf

[28] Qualication Standards 3 / 3. Tbs-sct.gc.ca. 15 April

2013. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
[29] Correspondence of prociency scales.
March 1999. Retrieved 2011-08-14.

Sil.org.

[30] ILR Scale. Utm.edu. Retrieved 2011-08-14.

21

[50] Amega Web Technology. City & Guilds English

The Common European Framework. Cityandguildsenglish.com. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
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[53] Understanding your Statement of Results Cambridge

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[56] Cambridge English: First (FCE) - Results. Cambridge
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[57] Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) - Results. Cambridge ESOL. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
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[59] Cambridge English: Prociency (CPE) - Results. Retrieved 2015-07-22.
[60] Examagram scores. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
[61] http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/ISE
[62] http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/GESE
[63] http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/SEW
[64] Open University Language Modules. The Open University (2011). Retrieved 2011-11-23.
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[68] Egzaminy Certykatowe z Jzyka Polskiego jako
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[69] Centro de Avaliao de Portugus Lngua Estrangeira.
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[74] de Jong, John H.A.L. Unwarranted Claim about CEF
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11

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