Cambridge ESOL exams and the CEFR
The conceptual perspective
The Council of Europe’s Common European Framework Project was managed between 1993 and 1996, with considerable input from the Eurocentres organisation. The project’s overarching aim was to construct a common framework in the European context which would be comprehensive, transparent and coherent, and would assist a variety of users in defining language learning, teaching and assessment objectives. The emerging descriptive framework formalised conceptual levels that the English language teaching world (i.e. learners, teachers and publishers) had been working with for many years, using familiar labels such as ‘preliminary’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘advanced’. While it aimed to build upon this shared understanding among teachers and other ELT stakeholders, it also sought to resolve some difficulties of relating language courses and assessments to one another. The goal was a common meta-language to talk about learning objectives and language levels and to encourage practitioners to reflect on and share their practice.
At the same time, member organisations of the new Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) were also working systematically to co-locate their respective qualifications across different European languages and proficiency levels within a shared framework of reference. Their aim was to develop a framework establishing common proficiency levels to promote the trans-national recognition of language certification in Europe. The process involved analysing test content, creating quality guidelines for exam production, and developing empirically validated performance indicators (Can Do statements) in different European languages.
During the mid-1990s the five-level ALTE Framework developed simultaneously alongside the six-level CEFR published in draft form in 1997. Both frameworks shared a common conceptual origin, similar aims – transparency and coherence – as well as comparable scales of empirically developed descriptors. In light of this, Cambridge ESOL and its ALTE partners decided to conduct several studies to verify their alignment. Description of a third, higher proficiency functional level began in the 1990s, with support and participation from ALTE; work on this level took account of FCE and led to the publication of Vantage in 1999 (Van Ek and Trim 2001). Following publication of the CEFR in 2001 the ALTE members adopted the six CEFR levels (A1–C2).
One of the strengths of this conceptual approach to framework development has undoubtedly been its ‘organic’ nature and its ability to benefit from synergy with similar framework development projects.
Further information
References:
Van Ek, J A and Trim, J L M (2001) Vantage, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
