Curricula framework for language courses

CURRICULA FRAMEWORK FOR LANGUAGE COURSES

The curricula framework for language courses are based on the Common European Framwork of Reference (CEFR) language proficiency levels, as initially published in English and French in 2001, and the 2020 updated version which expands on aspect such as the notion of mediation.  The descriptions below are a reference point for the development of detailed syllabuses and teaching materials used in foreign language courses at the University of Warsaw.

 

1. Common Reference Levels: global scale for language proficiency at A2, B1, B2, C1 & C2 levels based on the European System of Language Education (2003).

Proficient User	C2	Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations
	C1	Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
Independent User	B2	Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options
	B1	Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plan
Basic User	A2	Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

 

 

 

1. Description of levels A2, B1, B2, B2+, C1 & C2 for the following skills: reception, production, interaction and mediation

 

PROFICIENT USER C2 LEVEL

1. Reception

Listening: Has no difficulty in understanding any kind of spoken language, whether live or broadcast, delivered at fast native speed.

Reading: Can understand and interpret critically virtually all forms of the written language including abstract, structurally complex, or highly colloquial literary and non-literary writings.  Can understand a wide range of long and complex texts, appreciating subtle distinctions of style and implicit as well as explicit meaning.

 

2. Production

Oral: Can produce clear, smoothly flowing well-structured speech with an effective logical structure which helps the recipient to notice and remember significant points.

Writing: Can write clear, smoothly flowing, complex texts in an appropriate and effective style and a logical structure which helps the reader to find significant points.

 

3. Interaction

Spoken: Has a good command of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms with awareness of connotative levels of meaning. Can convey finer shades of meaning precisely by using, with reasonable accuracy, a wide range of modification devices. Can backtrack and restructure around a difficulty so smoothly the interlocutor is hardly aware of it.

Written: Can express him/herself with clarity and precision, relating to the addressee flexibly and effectively.

 

4. Mediation

Can mediate effectively and naturally, taking on different roles according to the needs of the people and situation involved, identifying nuances and undercurrents and guiding a sensitive or delicate discussion. Can explain in clear, fluent, well structured language the way facts and arguments are presented, conveying evaluative aspects and most nuances precisely, and pointing out sociocultural implications (e.g. use of register, understatement, irony and sarcasm).

 

 

PROFICIENT USER C1 LEVEL

1. Reception

Listening: Can understand enough to follow extended speech on abstract and complex topics beyond his/her own field, though he/she may need to confirm occasional details, especially if the accent is unfamiliar. C1 Can recognise a wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, appreciating register shifts. Can follow extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly.

Reading: Can understand in detail lengthy, complex texts, whether or not they relate to his/her own area of speciality, provided he/she can reread difficult sections.

2. Production

Oral: Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on complex subjects, integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.

Written: Can write clear, well-structured texts of complex subjects, underlining the relevant salient issues, expanding and supporting points of view at some length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples, and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.

3. Interaction

Spoken: Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously, almost effortlessly. Has a good command of a broad lexical repertoire allowing gaps to be readily overcome with circumlocutions. There is little obvious searching for expressions or avoidance strategies; only a conceptually difficult subject can hinder a natural, smooth flow of language.

Written: Can express him/herself with clarity and precision, relating to the addressee flexibly and effectively.

4. Mediation

Can act effectively as a mediator, helping to maintain positive interaction by interpreting different perspectives, managing ambiguity, anticipating misunderstandings and intervening diplomatically in order to redirect talk. Can build on different contributions to a discussion, stimulating reasoning with a series of questions. Can convey clearly and fluently in well-structured language the significant ideas in long, complex texts, whether or not they relate to his/her own fields of interest, including evaluative aspects and most nuances.

 

 

INDEPENDENT USER B2+ LEVEL

 

1. Reception

Listening: Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Can understand the main ideas of propositionally and linguistically complex speech on both concrete and abstract topics delivered in a standard dialect, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can follow extended speech and complex lines of argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar, and the direction of the talk is sign-posted by explicit markers.

Reading:

 

2. Production

Oral: Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on a wide range of subjects related to his/her field of interest, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and relevant examples.

Written: Can express news and views effectively in writing, and relate to those of others.

3. Interaction

Spoken: Can use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, academic, vocational or leisure topics, marking clearly the relationships between ideas. Can communicate spontaneously with good grammatical control without much sign of having to restrict what he/she wants to say, adopting a level of formality appropriate to the circumstances.

Written:

4. Mediation

Can establish a supportive environment for sharing ideas and facilitate discussion of delicate issues, showing appreciation of different perspectives, encouraging people to explore issues and adjusting sensitively the way he/she expresses things. Can build upon other’s ideas, making suggestions for ways forward. Can convey the main content of well-structured but long and propositionally complex texts on subjects within his/her fields of professional, academic and personal interest, clarifying the opinions and purposes of speakers. Can work collaboratively with people from different backgrounds, creating a positive atmosphere by giving support, asking questions to identify common goals, comparing options for how to achieve them and explaining suggestions for what to do next. Can further develop other people’s ideas, pose questions that invite reactions from different perspectives and propose a solution or next steps. Can convey in speech and writing detailed information and arguments reliably, e.g. the significant point(s) contained in complex but well-structured texts within his/her fields of professional, academic and personal interest.

 

INDEPENDENT USER B2 LEVEL

 

1. Reception

Listening: Can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Only extreme background noise, inadequate discourse structure and/or idiomatic usage influences the ability to understand.

Reading: Can read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. Has a broad active reading vocabulary, but may experience some difficulty with low frequency idioms.

 

2. Production

Oral: Can use the language fluently, accurately and effectively on a wide range of general, academic, vocational or leisure topics, marking clearly the relationships between ideas. Can communicate spontaneously with good grammatical control without much sign of having to restrict what he/she wants to say, adopting a level of formality appropriate to the circumstances.

Written: Can write clear, detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest, synthesising and evaluating information and arguments from a number of sources.

3. Interaction

Spoken: Can give clear, systematically developed descriptions and presentations, with appropriate highlighting of significant points, and relevant supporting detail.

Written: Can express news and views effectively in writing, and relate to those of others.

4. Mediation

Can establish a supportive environment for sharing ideas and facilitate discussion of delicate issues, showing appreciation of different perspectives, encouraging people to explore issues and adjusting sensitively the way he/she expresses things. Can build upon other’s ideas, making suggestions for ways forward. Can convey the main content of well-structured but long and propositionally complex texts on subjects within his/her fields of professional, academic and personal interest. Can work collaboratively with people from different backgrounds, creating a positive atmosphere by giving support, asking questions to identify common goals, comparing options for how to achieve them and explaining suggestions for what to do next. Can further develop other people’s ideas, pose questions that invite reactions from different perspectives and propose a solution or next steps. Can convey in speech and writing detailed information and arguments reliably, e.g. the significant point(s) contained in complex but well-structured texts within his/her fields of professional, academic and personal interest.

 

INDEPENDENT USER B1 LEVEL

 

1. Reception

Listening: Can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or job related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details, provided speech is clearly articulated in a generally familiar accent.

Reading: Can read straightforward factual texts on subjects related to his/her field and interest with a satisfactory level of comprehension.

2. Production

Oral:  Can reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within his/her field of interest, presenting it as a linear sequence of points.

Written: Can write straightforward connected texts on a range of familiar subjects within his field of interest, by linking a series of shorter discrete elements into a linear sequence.

3. Interaction

Spoken: Can communicate with some confidence on familiar routine and non-routine matters related to his/her interests and professional field. Can exchange, check and confirm information, deal with less routine situations and explain why something is a problem. Can express thoughts on more abstract, cultural topics such as films, books, music etc.

Written: Can convey information and ideas on abstract as well as concrete topics, check information and ask about or explain problems with reasonable precision. Can write personal letters and notes asking for or conveying simple information of immediate relevance, getting across the point he/she feels to be important.

4. Mediation

Can collaborate with people from other backgrounds, showing interest and empathy by asking and answering simple questions, formulating and responding to suggestions, asking whether people agree, and proposing alternative approaches. Can convey the main points made in long texts expressed in uncomplicated language on topics of personal interest, provided that he/she can check the meaning of certain expressions. Can introduce people from different backgrounds, showing awareness that some questions may be perceived differently, and invite other people to contribute their expertise and experience, their views. Can convey information given in clear, well-structured informational texts on subjects that are familiar or of personal or current interest, although his/her lexical limitations cause difficulty with formulation at times.

 

BASIC USER A2 LEVEL

 

1. Reception

Listening: Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type provided speech is clearly and slowly articulated.

Reading: Can understand short, simple texts on familiar matters of a concrete type which consist of high frequency everyday or job-related language.

2. Production

Oral: Can give a simple description or presentation of people, living or working conditions, daily routines, likes/dislikes, etc. as a short series of simple phrases and sentences linked into a list.

Written: Can write a series of simple phrases and sentences linked with simple connectors like ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘because’.

3. Interaction

Spoken: Can interact with reasonable ease in structured situations and short conversations, provided the other person helps if necessary. Can manage simple, routine exchanges without undue effort; can ask and answer questions and exchange ideas and information on familiar topics in predictable everyday situations.

Written: Can write short, simple formulaic notes relating to matters in areas of immediate need.

4. Mediation

Can play a supportive role in interaction, provided that other participants speak slowly and that one or more of them helps him/her to contribute and to express his/her suggestions. Can convey relevant information contained in clearly structured, short, simple, informational texts, provided that the texts concern concrete, familiar subjects and are formulated in simple everyday language. Can use simple words to ask someone to explain something. Can recognise when difficulties occur and indicate in simple language the apparent nature of a problem. Can convey the main point(s) involved in short, simple conversations or texts on everyday subjects of immediate interest provided these are expressed clearly in simple language.