Aligning Tests with the CEFR: Reflections on Using the Council of Europe's Draft Manual

The Council of Europe released a preliminary version of the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in 2003. A variety of institutions and individuals conducted case studies to pilot this draft version, prior to its revision in 2008/9. This volume features selected case studies presented at a colloquium in Cambridge in December 2007, where practitioners and academics shared their experiences of applying the Manual procedures. Projects included the linking of a single test to the CEFR, the linking of suites of examinations at different levels and large-scale national studies undertaken by examination boards and specialist research institutes. As well as describing their approaches and reporting their findings, contributors reflect and comment on their experience of using the draft Manual. An introductory chapter explains the development of the CEFR and the draft Manual, discussing their relevance for the future.