Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
The growing acceptance of the standards presented in the Common European Framework for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) has created a situation in which public bodies, examination institutes, language schools and university departments concerned with the teaching and testing of languages are increasingly interested in relating their curricula and examinations to the Common Reference Levels. A problem that arises in this regard is the question of assuring a consistent interpretation of the levels in different contexts. The CoE Manual, published for piloting in September 2003, envisages the process of linking an examination to the CEFR in three stages:

* Specification: define the coverage of the examination in
categories of the CEFR;
* Standardisation: ensure a consistent interpretation of the Common Reference Levels, using illustrative test items and samples of performances already calibrated to the CEFR elsewhere;
* Empirical Validation: check that the results produced by the examination relate to the levels of the CEFR in the way foreseen.

As by now, 40 institutions from 20 countries have registered for the piloting phase of the Manual. Their work is supported by a Reference Supplement containing quantitative and qualitative considerations in relating certificates and diplomas to the CEFR and presenting different approaches to standard setting - as well as by a growing set of multilingual reference materials accompanying the preliminary draft of the Manual: CD-ROMs with calibrated illustrative test items for Listening and Reading and calibrated samples of written performances, and DVDs/videos with calibrated illustrative samples of spoken performances. The final version of the Manual is planned to be published as a CoE document in 2008.

Dr. Waldemar Martyniuk
Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland / currently seconded to the Council of Europe, Language Policy Division (Strasbourg, France), as Language Project Co-ordinator.
Author of textbooks, curricula, and testing materials for Polish as a foreign language; Secretary of the State Certification Commission for Polish as a Foreign Language (2003-4); Visiting Professor and lecturer at universities in Germany (Bochum, Giessen, Goettingen, Mainz, Muenster), Switzerland (Basel), and in the USA (Stanford University); Director of the Jagiellonian University School of Polish Language and Culture (2001-4).