American

Headwa
The world’s most trusted English course

and the
Common European
Framework of Reference

Second edition
John and Liz Soars

1
Introduction
What is this booklet for? as a person moves up the levels. The CEF recommends
“extreme caution” in trying to calculate or predict how
The aim of this booklet is to give a clear and simple long it will take to move from one CEF level to the next.
introduction to the Common European Framework
of Reference, and to show how it works with American
Headway, Second Edition. This document is not a What does the CEF say about teaching and
summary of the Common European Framework of learning?
Reference (CEF), which is an extremely comprehensive
and detailed document of over 250 pages. This ■ Teaching
introduction highlights points of particular interest, and
Here are some of the things that the CEF says about
if detailed information is required, teachers are advised to
teaching and the teacher’s role:
consult the original document.
The main body of this document maps each Student Book
• The CEF doesn’t promote a particular language
teaching methodology. It suggests that the methods
unit of American Headway, Second Edition, and refers to teachers use should be appropriate to the teaching
the competencies detailed in the CEF. context and the social context. It recognizes that
effective teaching depends on lots of variables, and that
there’s a huge range of possible teaching methods and
What is the CEF? What are its aims? materials.
The CEF is a carefully developed descriptive framework.
It has often closely linked educational and social aims
• It recognizes that teachers have to think on their feet
and be flexible and responsive to their students’ needs.
including:
• It suggests that teachers need to understand why they’re

• to encourage the development of language skills, so doing what they do, and help to define their learners’
that people can work together more effectively. objectives, and it acknowledges that experience is
• to encourage the development of intercultural extremely valuable in helping them do this.
awareness and “plurilingualism”.
• It suggests that teachers should help students as much
• to examine and define what we can do with a language. as they can to develop both their language knowledge
• to help us compare the language levels of individuals and their ability to learn (in class and on their own).
in an accurate and impartial way, across different These points offer a reassuring indication that the CEF
countries, educational systems, ages, and cultures. doesn’t set out to change teachers and the way they teach.
• to encourage learner autonomy and lifelong learning. It encourages a focus on communicative ability (the end
• to promote a coherent approach to language teaching– result) rather than “knowing language,” but it isn’t a new
not by imposing a system of its own, but by methodology or a new approach to teaching, and it
encouraging the sharing of ideas. doesn’t introduce new syllabus elements. It doesn’t tell
you what to do – but that’s a good thing. It allows for as
many different teaching styles as there have always been,
What are the CEF levels? and it’s not trying to make everyone teach the same things
in the same way. We think there are two key points for
There are six global levels in the CEF – what these teachers:
levels reflect is shown in the table on the following
pages. Behind these levels are a very large number of • The CEF focuses on the “end result” of teaching – if
competencies which make up a person’s language ability – you keep this end in mind too, and if you cover a
these are defined by “descriptors.” comprehensive language syllabus and include active
work on the four skills, then you don’t need to make
The CEF says that teachers shouldn’t feel that they have radical changes to your teaching practices.
to use these levels in their teaching situations. They
are intended to be common reference points. It is also • You need not only to teach but also to help your students
develop as autonomous learners – partly to improve
important to remember that these levels are purely
their current language learning skills, and partly to help
descriptive, and that they don’t necessarily correspond
them throughout their language learning lives.
to a year of study, or to 100 hours of study, for example.
Everyone has different aims and learns at different speeds, ■ Learning
in different environments, and in different ways. The CEF
is careful to point out that the levels are not “linear” – that A real strength of the CEF for students is that it focuses
is, the time needed to move from A1 to A2 may not be on the positive – on what they can do, not on what they
the same as that needed to move from B1 to B2, or C1 can’t do. All levels of performance from A1 upwards
to C2, and progress from level to level may slow down are valued, and students should feel positive about the
growing list of things that they know they can do.

© Oxford University Press Introduction 1

 Here are some of the things the CEF says about learning
and the learner’s role:
• Language teaching needs to be “learner-centered”
because it is ultimately the learner who has to do the
learning.
• Learners need to take more responsibility for planning
and carrying out their own learning. They sometimes
tend to be “reactive” (they do what the teacher tells
them to do) but they need to be autonomous, and to
study effectively on their own …
• … so they need to “learn to learn” and to be made
aware of the ways they can do this.
These statements stress that language learning is
ultimately in the hands of the learner, and that we need
to help students not only by teaching them, but also by
encouraging them to learn independently.

Is American Headway, Second Edition

compatible with the CEF?
Yes, definitely. The CEF focuses on using language in real,
communicative contexts, and so does American Headway,
Second Edition. The CEF encourages the development of
the ability to “do things” in a foreign language, not just
to “know about” that language, and this is an aim we
all share – though students also need to “know about”
a language in order to function successfully in that
language. As the CEF says, “… a language learner has
to acquire both form and meaning.” For example, an A1
descriptor might be “can understand simple directions.”
In order to do this, students need to know lexical items
(left, right, straight ahead, first, second, third), grammatical
elements such as imperatives (take the …, turn …), fixed
phrases (you can’t miss it), and probably be able to ask
for repetition. American Headway, Second Edition teaches
the language and skills that students will need in order to
develop their range of communicative competencies.
The CEF emphasizes that teachers and materials writers
will continue to need to make their own decisions about
the precise linguistic content of their courses – and that is
what we have done in American Headway, Second Edition.
We hope that the decisions we have made in writing the
course help you and your students as much as they can.

2 Introduction © Oxford University Press

 Common European Framework of Reference Level Overview

proficient C2 Mastery This level isn’t supposed to equal “native speaker” mastery –
though a student at this level would be a very successful learner
who can use a language with real precision and fluency.
C1 Effective At this level students command a wide range of language.
Operational
Proficiency
independent B2 Vantage This level is where language use begins to become more
“abstract”, for example, giving and justifying opinions,
summarizing a short story or plot, or giving detailed
instructions.
B1 Threshold At this level students can maintain a conversation and express
ideas. They can also begin to deal with problems and situations
where they meet unpredictable language.
basic A2 Waystage This level has lots of descriptors for social functions, for
example, greeting people, asking about work and free time, and
making invitations.
A1 Breakthrough This is the lowest level of “generative language use” – students
can interact in a simple way and ask and answer simple
questions.
The CEF recognizes a level of ability below A1,
which includes descriptors like “can say yes, no,
please, thank you,” “can use some basic greetings,”
“can fill in uncomplicated forms.” For a breakdown of the six global levels
above, see chapter 3 of the CEF.
The CEF also recognizes that there can be levels
between these six global levels, like A2+, B1+ For detailed scales for each area of
and B2+. competence, see chapter 4 of the CEF.

© Oxford University Press Introduction 3