The Dutch CEFR Grid Reading / Listening

Familiarising yourself with the CEFR

Before you begin to analyse tests, texts, tasks or individual items using the GRID, it is essential that you be fully familiar with the Common European Framework of Reference (large pdf file: 1.1 MB) itself. Judgements made by people who are not fully familiar with the CEFR are, frankly, worthless, since they will vary wildly from person to person, and from occasion to occasion. We therefore strongly recommend that all analysts have not only read the CEFR itself carefully but also have experience in interpreting the CEFR, either for curriculum development, the writing of teaching materials based on the CEFR, the development of teacher training materials, or the construction of tests related to the CEFR. The Manual (large pdf file: 1.27 MB) (Chapter 3 page 25) contains detailed and valuable suggestions for procedures whereby such familiarisation can be assessed and assured.

In brief, these may involve each individual analyst:

• rank ordering a set of 'Can-do' statements for the skill in question, from A1 to C2
• sorting individual 'Can-do' statements into six piles corresponding to the six major levels of the CEFR
• assessing one's own language proficiency, preferably for a language one neither speaks as a native nor teaches, using the 'Can-do' statements for the relevant skill

and then discussing the results within the whole group of analysts, discussing reasons why opinions differed, and attempting to reach a consensus on the level of the 'Can-do' statements.

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