User groups

Online version of the CEF document: cef_hyperlinked

Language teachers

The CEF provides basic concepts for your work by giving insights into:

  • what language proficiency is
    (Ch. 5 The user/learner´s competences)
  • how languages are used
    (Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner)
  • how languages are learnt
    (Ch. 6 Language learning and teaching)
  • principles for planning teaching
    (Ch. 7 Tasks and their role in language teaching & Ch. 8 Linguistic diversification and the curriculum)
  • principles for assessing learning outcomes
    (Ch. 9 Assessment)

and offers you a tool for describing your own language proficiency and the performance of your students in transparent and internationally intelligible terms.

Student teachers

The CEF provides basic concepts for your future work by giving insights into:

  • what language proficiency is
    (Ch. 5 The user/learner´s competences)
  • how languages are used
    (Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner)
  • how languages are learnt
    (Ch. 6 Language learning and teaching)
  • principles for planning teaching
    (Ch. 7 Tasks and their role in language teaching & Ch. 8 Linguistic diversification and the curriculum)
  • principles for assessing learning outcomes
    (Ch. 9 Assessment)

and offers you a tool for describing your own language proficiency and the performance of your students in transparent and internationally intelligible terms.

Language learners

The CEF

  • explains the nature of language proficiency
    (Ch. 5 The user/learner’s competences)
  • describes the use of language in social contexts
  • helps you to plan and monitor your learning
  • provides you with internationally recognised scales to assess and report your language skills in educational and work-related contexts

Textbook writers

The CEF is a reference point for the development of materials for classroom activities and provides insights into

  • Language proficiency
    (Ch. 5 The user/learners competences)
  • Language learning and teaching
    (Ch. 6 Language learning and teaching)
  • Planning language teaching
    (Ch. 6 Language learning and teaching Section 6.4.1 General approaches and Ch. 7 Tasks and their role in language teaching)

Test writers

The CEF

  • informs you about the nature of what you are measuring
    (Ch. 5 The user/learner’s competences)
  • helps you target the test appropriately
    (Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner)
  • gives a principled approach to assessment
    (Ch. 9 Assessment)
  • provides tools for describing learner performances in
    internationally recognised terms
    (Ch. 3 Common Reference Levels, see Scales,
    Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner and
    Ch. 5 The user/learner’s competences)

Educational planners and administrators

The CEF helps you to draw up curricular guidelines and formulate syllabuses by offering insights into

  • what needs to be learned
    (Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner and
    Ch. 5 The user/learner’s competences)
  • planning language education
    (Ch. 8 Linguistic diversification and the curriculum)
  • how to set and monitor the achievement of target levels
    (Ch. 3 Common Reference Levels, see Scales,
    Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner and
    Ch. 5 The user/learner’s competences)
  • how to report assessment results
    (Ch. 3 Common Reference Levels, see Scales,
    Ch. 4 Language use and the language user/learner and
    Ch. 5 The user/learner’s competences).