The "ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners" are designed to describe language performance that is the result of explicit instruction in an instructional setting. A companion to the "ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines," a document that describes broad, general language proficiency regardless of when, where or how…

Since it was first published by the Council of Europe in 2001, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become one of the most widely referenced documents in language education, particularly in English language teaching and assessment (Savski, in press). The recently released CEFR Companion Volume (2020), with its new…

Japanese loanwords are mainly derived from English. These loanwords provide a considerable first-language (L1) resource that may assist in second-language (L2) vocabulary learning and instruction. However, given the huge number of loanwords, it is often difficult to determine whether an English word has a loanword equivalent and whether the…

Following Richards's (2015) ideas of using movie clips, videos, and games as valuable technological tools for language learning, the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using novel extracts and computer game cutscenes based on the same story to develop the vocabulary knowledge of English as a foreign language (EFL)…

The current assessment in language classrooms prevailingly utilizes the criteria provided by instructors, regarding learners as passive recipients of assessment. The current study drew upon sustainable assessment and the community of practice to highlight the importance of involving learners in co-constructing the assessment criteria and argued…

We report on a standard-setting project in which the Item-Descriptor-Matching Method (IDM) and a complementary benchmarking approach were employed to align a suite of English language proficiency exams to the "Common European Framework of Reference" (CEFR), with a particular focus on the integrated and independent writing exams. Judges'…

Whereas the Interagency Language Roundtable Language Skill Level Descriptions broke new ground for assessing proficiency in foreign languages, the need for user-oriented (rather than assessment-oriented) proficiency scales has led, especially in Europe, to the creation of scales consisting of positively formulated "can-do" statements,…

One of the most critical steps in the test development process is defining the construct, or the knowledge, skills, or abilities, to be assessed. This foundational step provides the basis for initial assumptions about the meaning of test scores and serves as a reference for subsequent validity research. In this paper, we describe the purpose of…

The article presents the procedure and results of a linguistic experimental study of the cognitive characteristics underlying basic ideas about patriotism in the modern Russian language consciousness as identified by the author from previous studies of the semantic content of the concept of PATRIOTISM in accordance with language data. The purpose…

The present case study investigated the potential of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages: learning, teaching, assessment can-do descriptors for mediation in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)-based context. Fabricating descriptors for mediation was cardinal for the Council…

In this article a proposal is presented for a theoretical framework that could provide the structure and coherence needed for the development of effective LMOOCs (Language MOOCs) and MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) apps in a systematic way that would facilitate online second language learning. The framework is argued to be appropriate for…

Given the increasing demand for interculturally competent graduates and employees, it is incumbent upon the Tuning community to incorporate intercultural competence into Tuning Frameworks. With the growing diversity in the world today, beyond national diversity, intercultural competence cuts across disciplines, subjects, and contexts. This essay…

This article addresses the suitability of the CEFR as the basis for decisions about the readiness of individuals to engage in academic writing tasks in undergraduate university courses, and as a guide to progress. The CEFR offers potentially relevant general scales and subscales, but also more specific subscales for writing in the academic…

This paper, fundamentally a procedural paper, outlines pedagogical practices which others may want to adapt for their own purposes. We demonstrate how a strong form of task-based language learning and teaching (TBLT), classroom implementation of the CEFR, cyclical learning, and assessment fulfilling roles, such as informing the next learning…

In this paper plurilingual and autonomy building activities are described with reference to the CercleS European Language Portfolio and some parts of the original Council of Europe Language Portfolio. For this extracurricular plurilingual learning project in Portugal, eight second-year female students studying for a degree in Executive Secretarial…