Can Do and Cannot Do – CEFR inspired examination and assessment in a Swedish higher education context

Abstract

The focus in this paper is on the introduction and implementation of learning outcomes based on the descriptors in the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). It discusses reaction to the introduction by teacher educators as well as the influence on teacher assessment practice in courses for prospective teachers of English as a foreign language. The paper presents some of the results from a case study concerning changes made in connection with the Bologna process in a department of education within a university college in Sweden. The results show that the adoption of the CEFR descriptors was contested and had a minimal influence on assessment practice. The aim of the paper is to explore possible reasons for the lack of influence, something that was not developed fully in the original case study.