English Profile Studies – serie

This volume introduces a new concept, 'criterial features', for the learning, teaching and testing of English as a second language. The work is based on research conducted within the English Profile Programme at Cambridge University, using the Cambridge Learner Corpus. The authors address the extent to which learners know the grammar, lexicon and usage conventions of English at each level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). These levels are currently illustrated in functional terms with 'Can Do' statements. Greater specificity and precision can be achieved by using the tagged and parsed corpus, which enables researchers to identify criterial features of the CEFR levels, i.e. properties that are characteristic and indicative of L2 proficiency at each level. In practical terms, once criterial features have been identified, the grammatical and lexical properties of English can be presented to learners more efficiently and in ways that are appropriate to their levels.

The English Profile Programme is an elaboration of the performance level descriptions of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) that is concerned specifically with the English language. The CEFR has become influential in building a shared understanding of performance levels for foreign language learners. However, there is a considerable gap between the broad descriptions of levels provided, which covers a range of languages and learning contexts, and the level of detail required for applications such as syllabus or test design, which this volume addresses. With its combination of theoretical insights and practical advice, this is a useful work for academics, policy-makers, curriculum designers, textbook writers, postgraduate students and examination board staff.

The CEFR in Practice covers the four main areas with which the CEFR is concerned: its role as a common framework, the Common Reference Levels, what the CEFR implies for planning and teaching, and assessment of CEFR levels. Each chapter is organised into three sections: Essentials, to introduce the relevance of the CEFR to the topic concerned; More detail, to give examples of the implementation of the framework; and Issues, a discursive section with a focus on misconceptions of the CEFR and how these could be addressed. The conclusion discusses the extent to which the CEFR is generating change, the priorities for curriculum development in the future and how the framework can be further exploited and developed.

This volume provides an introduction to the English Profile Programme and discusses its latest findings. English Profile in Practice is an essential resource for teachers, syllabus designers, educational planners, language testers, and other ELT professionals working with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). It includes: information about the English Vocabulary Profile, which describes the words and phrases learners of English know and use at each level of the CEFR; fascinating insights into the English Grammar Profile, exploring what it means to develop grammatical proficiency; discussion about what language learners' output 'looks like' at each of the CEFR levels; and information about how English Profile research is being used in the field of ELT.

The Discourse of the IELTS Speaking Test provides a unique dual perspective on the evaluation of spoken discourse in that it combines a detailed portrayal of the design of a face-to-face speaking test with its actual implementation in interactional terms. Using many empirical extracts of interaction from authentic IELTS Speaking Tests, the book illustrates how the interaction is organised in relation to the institutional aim of ensuring valid assessment. The relationship between individual features of the interaction and grading criteria is examined in detail across a number of different performance levels.

This study investigates both the contextual features of a range of real-life academic writing tasks and reading-into-writing test tasks, and the cognitive processes required to complete the integrated task type successfully. Since its publication, the CEFR has become influential in building a shared understanding of performance levels for foreign language learners but mainly for individual macro skills. A considerable gap remains in the understanding of the integrated reading-into-writing skills, which are so important to the kinds of academic and professional written language use involved at the higher levels of the CEFR.