Refers to a situation where a word, phrase, or sentence has multiple possible interpretations or meanings. Ambiguity can be lexical (e.g. a word with multiple meanings) or syntactic (e.g. a sentence structure that can be parsed in different ways).

From a sociocultural perspective, ambiguity refers to situations where language or communication can be interpreted in multiple ways due to cultural, social, or contextual factors. In this view, ambiguity arises not just from linguistic structures (like words with multiple meanings or complex sentences) but also from differences in cultural norms, values, and expectations. For example, a phrase or gesture that is clear in one cultural context may carry different or unclear meanings in another, leading to misunderstandings or multiple interpretations.

A constructivist approach to language education that is applied throughout the curriculum, i.e. in teaching, learning and assessment.

“Constructive” reflects the constructivist view on learning, which underlines that meaning is not transmitted from the teacher to the learner, but the learners need to take an active role in the learning process; they need to be given tasks that allow them to construct meaning; “alignment” stresses that teaching methods and assessment tasks therefore need to be aligned with the learning activities in order to achieve the intended outcomes.

Form of assessment that focusses on learning and learning processes and shapes the direction and content of further learning.

Interaction involves two or more parties co-constructing discourse.

“Interpersonal interaction is considered to be the origin of language, with interpersonal, collaborative and transactional functions.” (CEFR CV, 2020: 70)

Mediation is one of the four modes of communication, it combines reception, production and interaction.

“[…] when we use language it is not just to communicate a message, but rather to develop an idea through what is often called ‘languaging’ (talking the idea through and hence articulating the thoughts) or to facilitate understanding and communication.” (CEFR CV, 2020: 35)

Non-verbal elements of communication that accompany the main text and contribute to meaning. These include things like:

• illustrations (photographs, drawings, etc.),
• charts, tables, diagrams, figures, etc.,
• typographic features (fonts, pitch, spacing, underlining, layout, etc.).
  (CEFR, 2001: 90)

Spoken and written production, i.e. oral (“speaking”) and written production (“writing”).

“Production includes speaking, signing and writing activities.” (CEFR CV 2020: 60)

Spoken and written reception, i.e. oral (“listening”) and reading comprehension (“reading”).

“Reception involves receiving and processing input: activating what are thought to be appropriate schemata in order to build up a representation of the meaning being expressed and a hypothesis as to the communicative intention behind it.” (CEFR CV, 2020: 47)

Self-assessment is a judgement made by learners on their own performances, knowledge, strategies etc., imagining how well they would cope in a range of real-life settings.

A process during which students reflect on and assess the quality of their own work and learning, judge the degree to which they reflect explicitly stated goals or criteria, and identify strengths and weaknesses in their work.

Social agents are “members of society who have tasks (not exclusively language-related) to accomplish in a given set of circumstances, in a specific environment and within a particular field of action”. (CEFR, 2001: 9)

The learner as a social agent is considered to act “in the social world and exerts agency in the learning process”; language is seen “as a vehicle for communication rather than as a subject to study”. (CEFR CV, 2020: 28-29)

“A task is an activity which requires learners to use language, with emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective.” (Skehan, 2003: 3).

“Tasks […] are activities which have meaning as their primary focus. Success in tasks is evaluated in terms of achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally bear some resemblance to real-life language use. So task-based instruction takes a fairly strong view of communicative language teaching.”