This fast paced world has become more demanding each day, we are in a constant change and it is not a secret to anyone that languages have become worldwide important and the urge to speak a language has been notorious over the recent years. Learners want to become competitively good when they must communicate in other language in every situation they have to face. Every single day companies hire people who speak a foreign language, what aspects in terms of speaking another language are those companies looking for?
Nowadays companies have business all around the world and it is a need to have capable people who speak more than one language to keep up with this rhythm. However the kind of requirements those companies are asking, are not easy to achieve. That is the reason why a lot of people study a second language. For this reason the Council of Europe in 1950 got interested in endorsing a language learning that has been continuous and accelerating, needing reorientation or reorganization in terms of learning, teaching, and assessment.
Between 1989 and 1996 the Council of Europe proposed the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment, abbreviated as CEFR which is a guideline to explain the achievements of learners of foreign languages, but the big questions are: How can we apply it? What are the main purposes?
CEFR describes the way in which learners should be placed according to their achievements in terms of communicative competences and communicative language activities which are the most important aspects to explain the domain of knowledge of languages. If we start by explaining what communicative language activities are, we can say that is what learners are going to do with the language. And by explaining what communicative competences are, we can say that is the competences the learner is going to acquired in the process of learning. But how can we make the relationship between an activity and a competence? different competences can be developed by doing same activities or different ones.
What CEFR really states is that learners are placed according to these two main principles, they are placed in levels (Basic A1, A2, Independent B1, B2, Proficient C1, C2). It is a fact that this is a challenge for teachers and learners as well. Teachers should lead students to a high level, and students are challenged in terms of their knowledge of a language. This contributes to establish learning outcomes and ensure the effectiveness of learning a language. According to the CEFR objectives we can say that multilingualism and multiculturalism are encouraged, and it leads us to a permanent learning.
Nowadays companies have business all around the world and it is a need to have capable people who speak more than one language to keep up with this rhythm. However the kind of requirements those companies are asking, are not easy to achieve. That is the reason why a lot of people study a second language. For this reason the Council of Europe in 1950 got interested in endorsing a language learning that has been continuous and accelerating, needing reorientation or reorganization in terms of learning, teaching, and assessment.
Between 1989 and 1996 the Council of Europe proposed the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment, abbreviated as CEFR which is a guideline to explain the achievements of learners of foreign languages, but the big questions are: How can we apply it? What are the main purposes?
CEFR describes the way in which learners should be placed according to their achievements in terms of communicative competences and communicative language activities which are the most important aspects to explain the domain of knowledge of languages. If we start by explaining what communicative language activities are, we can say that is what learners are going to do with the language. And by explaining what communicative competences are, we can say that is the competences the learner is going to acquired in the process of learning. But how can we make the relationship between an activity and a competence? different competences can be developed by doing same activities or different ones.
What CEFR really states is that learners are placed according to these two main principles, they are placed in levels (Basic A1, A2, Independent B1, B2, Proficient C1, C2). It is a fact that this is a challenge for teachers and learners as well. Teachers should lead students to a high level, and students are challenged in terms of their knowledge of a language. This contributes to establish learning outcomes and ensure the effectiveness of learning a language. According to the CEFR objectives we can say that multilingualism and multiculturalism are encouraged, and it leads us to a permanent learning.
1 comment:
Indeed, CEFR is being employed by the government of Costa Rica, specifically the Ministry of Education to measure teachers' language proficiency in accordance with the CEFR can-do statements. Nevertheless, we must take into account that this type of test (TOEIC) and then mapped onto CEFR may yield results which are not necessarily that reliable. The latter I state especially due to fatigue, weather conditions, disabilities and even cultural backgrounds.
Post a Comment