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Project

An empirical investigation of L1 and L2 language proficiency: the case of lexical competence in B1 listening and speaking activities.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (Council of Europe, 2001) is probably the most influential document for educational language policy in Europe. The language-neutral CEFR describes language tasks and linguistic competences for any European language and links them to six levels of language proficiency (from A1 to C2) with the explicit aim to make language courses and proficiency levels more comparable throughout the EU. However, in spite of its widespread use and popularity, the language-specific implementations of these six levels are theoretically and empirically insufficiently validated as they tend to be confined to teacher and expert judgments and intuitions (Alderson, 2007; Hulstijn, 2014). In addition, claims regarding the relationship between the language tasks on the one hand and the language-specific linguistic competences on the other hand have rarely been investigated either (Kuiken, Vedder, & Gilabert, 2010). Finally, the CEFR seems to suffer from other limitations, such as the lack of an underlying theory of language proficiency (Alderson, 2007; Hulstijn, 2007, 2014) and the underlying but untested assumption that communicative activities share the same level of language proficiency in all languages (Alderson, 2007). The question thus arises whether at present it is possible to reliably and validly assign a CEFR language proficiency level to a foreign language learner given these limitations.

Therefore, this project aims to contribute to an empirical and theoretical validation of the CEFR by combining a corpus-based and expert-judged approach and by taking into account theories of language proficiency. Specifically, we will first determine what the shared vocabulary is among native speakers for communicative settings described by two CEFR-levels (A2 and B1). Next, we aim to determine the (minimum) lexical competence needed for learners of English and French to successfully perform listening and speaking tasks at these two CEFR-proficiency levels (A2, B1). Finally, we aim to determine whether the communicative activities at these two levels share a common vocabulary in two typologically different languages, viz. English and French (cross-linguistic comparison). The findings of this project will make a theoretical and empirical contribution to the CEFR and the field of Second Language Acquisition. In addition, they will have a significant impact on European and national educational policy, textbooks, and language testing practices.

Date:1 Oct 2014 →  17 Jul 2017
Keywords:speaking activities, listening, B1, lexical competence, language proficiency, L2, L1, empirical investigation
Disciplines:Theory and methodology of literary studies
Project type:PhD project