The new Companion Volume highlighted Rudi Camerer 19 February 2019 AGENDA The CEFR (2001) : Advantages & shortcomings The CEFR-CV (2018) : A new approach The role of Context The disappearance of the Native speaker Mediation: Key to effective communication 1
The aims and objectives of Council of Europe language policy: Strasbourg … To equip all Europeans for the challenges of intensified international mobility and closer co-operation not only in education, culture and science but also in trade 17.05.2018 and industry. (CEFR p. 3) INTERKULTURELLE KOMPETENZ ! 3 How did it start? John Trim 2001 The CEFR published by the Council of Europe 1995 First draft of the CEFR published by the Council of Europe 1975 Threshold Level published by the Council of Europe 1971 Council of Europe conference on “Unit Credit System” 2
First published in English by the Council of Europe (Cambridge University Press 2001). It has since been translated into • Albanian • Greek • Arabic • Hungarian • Armenian • Italian • Basque • Japanese • Bulgarian • Korean • Catalan • Lithuanian • Chinese • Macedonian • Croatian • Moldovan • Czech • Norwegian • Danish • Portuguese • Dutch • Polish • English • Romanian • Estonian • Russian • Esperanto • Serbian (lekavian version) • Finnish • Slovak 40 translations • French • Slovenian • Friulian • Spanish (January 2019) • Galician • Swedish • Georgian • Turkish • German • Ukrainian https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/history How can language competence be defined and measured? C2 Mastery Proficient User Effective Proficiency C1 Vantage B2 “CAN-DO” Independent User DESCRIPTORS Threshold B1 Waystage A2 Basic User Breakthrough A1 3
Reading Correspondence Listening as a Member of a Live Audience Examples of individual scales Monitoring and Repair Compensating Planning Reports and Essays Overall Written Production Addressing Audiences Sustained Monologue Overall Oral Production 4 External Context of Use Qualtiative Aspects of Spoken Language : out of 54 scales on Range, Accuracy, Fluency, Interaction, Coherence ACCURACY 4
Critique of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) • Consistency of scales • Pre-A1 level missing • C1 & C2 scales patchy • Native-speaker construct 5
Revision & new sets of descriptors 2014 - 2017 The project involved … • 1500 experts • 300 institutions • hundreds of validation workshops • 60 pilot projects Text as Social Action 4 DOMAINS PRIVATE PUBLIC OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATIONAL 4 MACRO-FUNCTIONS SPEAKING LISTENING WRITING READING 2001 6
4 DOMAINS PRIVATE PUBLIC OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATIONAL 4 MACRO-FUNCTIONS RECEPTION PRODUCTION INTERACTION MEDIATION Text as Social Action • User & uses of texts • Power & empowerment • Identity & group membership • Contexts (social, cultural, economic, political, professional, institutional) 2018 4 MACRO-FUNCTIONS RECEPTION PRODUCTION INTERACTION MEDIATION 7
Context in the CEFR (2001) TRANSACTIONS TO OBTAIN GOODS AND SERVICES Can deal with most transactions likely to arise whilst travelling, arranging travel or accommodation, or dealing with authorities during a foreign visit.. […] Can ask for and provide everyday goods and services. […] A2 Can ask about things and make simple transactions in shops, post offices or banks. Can give and receive information about quantities, numbers, prices, etc. Can make simple purchases by stating what is wanted and asking the price. Can order a meal. […] Which skills are needed? CONTEXT IS CRUCIAL ! 8
CONTEXT creates MEANING Szanowni państwo देिवयों और स�नों [Devanagari] 9
GERMAN SPANISH Die Brücke El puente “beautiful, elegant, “dangerous, long, fragile, peaceful, strong, sturdy, pretty, slender” towering” Der Schlüssel La llave “hard, heavy, jagged, “golden, intricate, metal, serrated” little, lovely, shiny, tiny.“ Boroditsky, L. / Schmidt, L. / Philipps, W. (2003). Sex, Syntax, and Semantics. In: Gentner, D. / Goldin-Meadow, S. (ed.) (2003). Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought. p. 70. “Hey, old dumbass!” 10
“This land is mine.” “This land is me.” cf. Farzad Sharifian, “Cultural Conceptualizations in English as an International Language” in: Farzad Sharifian (ed.) (2009). English as an International Language. Perspectives and Pedagogical Issues. Multilingual Matters. p. 244f. Photos: www.aboutpixel.de - firebird; www.istockphoto.com (2x) Cultural Concepts & Language A Puerto Rican woman, who had been living for many years in the United States, was visited by her father. During his stay, he helped her take care of her son (his grandson). When she thanked him for his help, he became angry and felt hurt. Helen Spencer-Oatey (2008). Culturally Speaking. Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory (2nd ed.) p.46 11
What is ‘normal’ for me is not necessarily so for others. Axioms of human communication 1969 Information & Content You cannot NOT communicate. Identities, Roles, Relationships 12
• Erving Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956) • Peter Berger & Thomas Luckmann: The Social Construction of Reality (1966) • Jürgen Habermas: Erkenntnis und Interesse (1968) Knowledge and Human Interests (1972) p. 50 f. 13
80 Descriptor-Scales PHONOLOGY Can employ the full range of phonological features in the target language with a high level of control – including prosodic features such as word and sentence stress, rhythm and intonation C2 – so that the finer points of his/her message are clear and precise. Intelligibility is not affected in any way by features of accent that may be retained from other language(s). Can employ the full range of phonological features in the target language with sufficient control to ensure intelligibility throughout. C1 Can articulate virtually all the sounds of the target language; some features of accent retained from other language(s) may be noticeable, but they do not affect intelligibility at all. Can generally use appropriate intonation, place stress correctly and articulate individual sounds clearly; accent tends to be influenced by other language(s) he/she speaks, but has little B2 or no effect on intelligibility. Pronunciation is generally intelligible; can approximate intonation and stress at both utterance B1 and word levels. However, accent is usually influenced by other language(s) he/she speaks. Pronunciation is generally clear enough to be understood, but conversational partners will need to ask for repetition from time to time. A strong influence from other language(s) he/she speaks A2 on stress, rhythm and intonation may affect intelligibility, requiring collaboration from interlocutors. Nevertheless, pronunciation of familiar words is clear. Pronunciation of a very limited repertoire of learnt words and phrases can be understood with some effort by interlocutors used to dealing with speakers of the language group concerned. A1 Can reproduce correctly a limited range of sounds as well as the stress on simple, familiar words and phrases. 14
No native-speaker standards? How is that supposed to go?! Core areas Phonological Control (CEFR-CV) Articulation including pronunciation of sounds/phonemes; including intonation, rhythm and stress – both word Prosody stress and sentence stress – and speech rate / chunking; Accentedness accent and deviation from a ‘norm’; accessibility of meaning for listeners, covering also the Intelligibility difficulty in understanding (normally referred to as comprehensibility). p. 134f. 15
What is a Native Speaker ? M. A. having worked for the UN Headquarters in New York for ? some time, he speaks about the ‘Melting Pot’ idea. Yuping Jia (China) talks about politeness conventions in Chinese business environments . Ming Wong (Singapore) talks about her experience with Westerners when talking to Asians . Effective use of language (e.g. English). What does it mean: ? 16
Criteria for the effective use of language (such as English) COMPREHENSIBILITY • in writing and speaking • of register and language for APPROPRIATENESS context • in the context of POLITENESS relationship-building Mediation What does it mean for you? 17
Lexical equivalents? “…in Persian, the word ‘compromise’ apparently lacks the positive meaning it has in English of ‘a midway solution both sides can live with,’ but has only a negative meaning as in ‘our integrity was compromised.’ Similarly, the word ‘mediator’ in Persian suggests ‘meddler’, someone who is barging in uninvited.” Roger Fisher, William Ury (2010). Getting to Yes. Mediation 18
Brian North: Mediation & Plurilingualism – The CEFR Companion Volume CEBS Sprachenforum International in Bad Hofgastein 23.-25.10.2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVVQE6-FHOw&t=23s Mediation 19
Linking to Previous Knowledge Mediation 20
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