Multilingual glossary of key terms in language education

A list of descriptors for one level of proficiency and/or different communicative activities, for use in learners’ self-assessment and/or teachers’ continuous assessment.

Specific statements that describe what language learners can do at different proficiency levels, as outlined in the CEFR.

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an internationally recognized system for describing language proficiency. The CEFR is designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.

A comprehensive overview of the philosophy of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), describing its general and communicative language competences, communicative language activities and strategies.

Certificate-based assessment is a form of summative assessment which results in a certificate or a diploma. It refers to the level expected by an institution and is part of its educational policy. In the case of home languages, assessment has a symbolic and identity-related status and can lead to curricular recognition.

Teachers gain control of their own change processes and become innovators in their teaching practice with the help of action research.

Social actor who participates in the construction of a societal project, promoting, for example, inclusion, health, well-being, environmental protection, or the fight against inequalities. He/She contributes to the evolution and transformation of the context, but also of communities, and therefore of the rights, responsibilities and values that they represent.

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) has established itself as the generic term for content and language integrated learning.

CLIL is a dual focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of content and language with the objective of promoting both content and language mastery to predefined levels (Maljers, Marsh, Wolff, Genesee, Frigols, Martín, Mehisto, 2010).

This broad term includes a number of approaches that A. Geiger-Jaillet, G. Schlemminger, and C. Le Pape Racine have set forth more precisely (see A. Geiger-Jailet, G. Schlemminger & C. Le Pape Racine (2016), Teach a subject in another language: Methodology and professional practice: CLIL-EMILE approach, 2^nd edition, Peter Lang GmbH, Frankfurt, chapter 1).

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is “a dual focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for learning and teaching of both content and language”. CLIL is a widely used term and can be defined as an “umbrella term covering a dozen or more educational approaches (e.g., immersion, bilingual education, [...] and enriched language programmes”. 

An educational approach where the additional language is used for the learning and teaching of content and language with the objective of promoting both content and language learning.

CLIL in other subjects means that languages that are not the language of schooling are used in subject teaching, e.g. by reading texts in French or German as additional language in social sciences.

CLIL in the language classroom means that content from other subjects is integrated in language teaching, e.g. by using materials from biology, history or art in foreign language education.

Refers to the way meaning is collaboratively built in a conversation. It highlights how participants in a dialogue contribute to developing ideas, responses, and interpretations, often building on each other’s statements to create shared understanding.

Meaning does not pre-exist the communication or the reception of a written or an oral text. It is co-constructed by interlocutors or by the reader or the hearer in interaction with the text. Meaning is thus the product of collaboration, i.e. the interactional work accomplished by all the participants in the interaction (also the author of a given text). All interlocutors contribute to the co-construction and the negotiation of meaning, even when they contribute in different languages or with para-verbal or non-verbal behaviours (such as gestures, mimic, interjections, …). In case of clashes in the interaction, misunderstandings, lack of a common language or uneven linguistic competences in the language of interaction, the mediator plays a crucial role in building bridges between interlocutors and/or across different sources of information. He can, for instance, participate in the co-construction and negotiation of meaning by “co-constructing ideas/solutions; asking others to explain their thinking and identifying inconsistencies in their thought processes; summarising the discussion and deciding on next steps” (Council of Europe 2020: 109).

Further reading:

Piccardo E. and North B. (2019), The action-oriented approach: A dynamic vision of language education, Multilingual Matters, Bristol.

The formulation of new meaning in the process of communication with other language users.

“Code switching (or code mixing) is a phenomenon linked to the concurrent use of more than one language or language variety. It occurs when a multilingual person shifts between one language or language variety and another, for instance from German to English, or from a formal to a casual register. Such switches, manifested syntactically and phonologically, are used to serve communicative purposes. The multilingual resources involved can be influenced by the social.”

The act of shifting between different languages or language varieties within a conversation or communication context.

Using different languages within a single communication act. Plurilingual individuals use their entire linguistic repertoire rather than switching between languages.

In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin; words in languages that share a similar meaning, spelling and/or pronunciation. (The word cognate derives from the Latin noun cognatus, which means “blood relative”.)

Pertains to the mental processes involved in acquiring, processing, and using language. Cognitive linguistics studies how language is connected to human thought, focusing on how conceptual structures, memory, perception, and reasoning influence language use.

“patterns that have arisen from the demand that participants within the institution school orient towards explicit or implicit learning goals and the fact that they have the repeated need for communicating about ways of handling and acting upon curricular content, concepts, and facts (cf. cognitive process dimension of Anderson et al. 2001). It is their very nature to provide speakers with schemata (discoursal, lexical and grammatical) for coping with standard situations in dealing with the task of building knowledge and making it intersubjectively accessible.” (Dalton-Puffer 2013: 16)

Refers to the mental processes involved in language use, including perception, memory, attention, and reasoning. Cognitive linguistics, for example, explores how language reflects conceptual structures in the human mind and how language learning and processing are linked to these cognitive functions.

Refers to the mental processes involved in language tasks, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and comprehension. Cognitively demanding tasks require greater mental effort and attention.

The quality of parts meshing together to make up a holistic entity. For example, parts of a programme (objectives, teaching, assessment) or parts of a text (beginning, middle, end). Joined-up thinking.

In the context of this project, collaboration in teachers’ work is seen as an essential component for transforming educational practices, because it breaks teachers’ isolation and facilitates change. Collaboration involves professional interactions that are more or less interdependent, determined by common tasks or objectives (Dochy et al., 2015: p. 23), such as the desire to co-construct a school culture marked by pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures. Here we adopt a strong interpretation of the concept of collaboration as a fundamental means of transforming teaching knowledge and practices. This includes cooperation between teachers and/or with other actors within the educational community, and is reflected in actions of assistance, support, and capable of leading to a plurilingual and intercultural education.

Further information

As explained by Villavicencio, Jaffe-Walter & Klevan (2021), “The literature on teacher collaboration emphasizes that effective collaboration involves a ‘deprivatization’ of practice (Little, 1990) as teachers come together to reflect on and share information related to teaching and learning, engage in inquiry into students’ needs, and learn new pedagogical strategies (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Datnow, 2011; Little, 2003; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2001)” (pp. 103-227). In this sense, collaboration is considered essential if teachers want to change established teaching methodologies and act to make plurilingual and intercultural education a reality in language and culture teaching/learning contexts.

Ability to communicate, work and co-construct meaning with others using digital technology.

Involves critical thinking, evaluation of arguments, and interaction among participants to build on or refute each other’s arguments to achieve their goals. It is characterized by collaboration and cooperation.

The Common European Framework of Reference provides a common basis for the creation of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, examinations, textbooks, etc. across Europe. It describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act effectively. The description also covers the cultural context in which language is set. Through its Global Scale and the Self-assessment grid, it also defines levels of proficiency which allow learners’ progress to be measured at each stage of learning and on a life-long basis. These two features are central to assessment for the European Language Portfolio (ELP).

A commonly agreed ascending scale of levels, identified by standardised codes (e.g. B2, C1…) for proficiency in a range of linguistic skills, e.g. listening, spoken interaction or writing.

To facilitate the organisation of courses and to describe progress, the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) presents six Common Reference Levels. The six levels are not intended to be absolute. Firstly, they can be grouped into three broad categories: Basic user (A1 and A2), Independent user (B1 and B2) and Proficient user (C1 and C2). Secondly, the six reference levels, which represent very broad bands of language proficiency, are very often subdivided.

Relates to how language is used for effective communication. The communicative approach in language teaching, for instance, emphasizes functional and social language use, prioritizing meaning and interaction over rigid grammatical accuracy.

Teaching approach where negotiation for meaning is critical. Collaborative learning and peer interaction are important.

Sensitivity to language and language use, involving knowledge and understanding of the principles according to which languages are organised and used.

The ability to use one or more language varieties to communicate.

The ability to use one or more language varieties to communicate according to the context.

The distinction between the ability of getting a message across and the level of quality of the language used. Often referred to as fluency versus accuracy, the opposition highlights the need for targeted focus on either element at different moments of the teaching/learning process.

The communicative language activities proposed by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) are based on the action-oriented philosophy of the document and are close to real-life language use, grounded in interaction in which meaning is co-constructed. Activities are presented under four modes of communication: reception, production, interaction and mediation.

Communicative language competence refers to the qualitative aspect of an individual’s overall language proficiency. In the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the communicative language competence comprises linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences.

Can be defined as the ability to use language accurately, effectively and appropriately in a specific social context.

According to the CEFR, communicative language competence consists of three elements:

1. linguistic competences (refer to knowledge of and ability to use language resources, e.g. vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, to form well structured messages);
2. sociolinguistic competences (that is the ability to use language appropriately in different social contexts);
3. pragmatic competence (is concerned with the knowledge of how messages are organised, structured, arranged and sequenced, and used to perform communicative functions)

A means learners use to mobilise and balance their resources (general and communicative competences) in order to carry out activities and accomplish tasks. The use of communication strategies in the different kinds of communicative activities generally includes Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Repair. Communication strategies are distinct from learning strategies.

Language requirements necessary for successful communication in real-world situations.

Objectives of the educational action that target the enhancement of learners’ active use and further development of their language(s) in a situation of real-life communication.

“A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. This rationale shapes the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style.” (Swales 1990: 58)

Acts of communication with one or more interlocutors which are generally undertaken by a language user in pursuance of his or her needs in a given situation as opposed to tasks where the sole purpose is that of introducing / reinforcing language forms.

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger, http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/). “Learning occurs in communities of practice through legitimate peripheral participation”* (Lave & Wenger 1991: 98); “for this to happen, learners must participate in a practice; learners must be allowed to play at least a peripheral role - at least temporarily... learners’ practice must be accepted as being a legitimate form of practice within the profession.&rdquo (Feldman, Altrichter, Posch & Somekh 2018: 48).
*Legitimate peripheral participation is one component in the model of situated learning proposed by Lave & Wenger (1991) and involves newcomer learning (Cox 2005).

A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession, or a concern or interest for something they do, and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. This definition reflects the fundamentally social nature of human learning.

The ability to do something successfully or efficiently by applying one’s knowledge and skills.

The sum of knowledge, skills and characteristics that allow a person to perform actions.
Grammatical competence = knowledge of/and ability to use the grammatical resources of a language.
Language competence = a combination of:

• Linguistic competence: includes lexical, phonological, syntactical knowledge and skills and other dimensions of language as a system.
• Sociolinguistic competence: refers to the sociocultural conditions of language use.
• Pragmatic competence: concerned with the functional use of linguistic resources, the mastery of discourse, cohesion, coherence, the identification of text types and forms, and such intentional devices as irony and parody.

The capacity to call upon one’s personal resources, consisting of knowledge, attitudes and skills, to perform a task. In the use of languages, communicative competence draws on linguistic (lexicon and functioning of the language), sociolinguistic (social rules in use of the language) and pragmatic components to perform a communicative task. Communicative competence is therefore based on knowledge about the functioning and use of languages, skills in implementing that knowledge and the capacity to adopt a favourable attitude to communication (e.g. ability to listen, desire to exchange with others, etc.).

The ability to do something successfully or efficiently by applying one’s knowledge and skills.

In many countries, competence goals or aims are defined for subject curricula. Competence goals express what students are expected to learn or be able to do at certain stages in their education.

Competences refer to cognitive abilities and aptitudes that are available and can be mobilised in complex situations.

As with the Framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures (FREPA) (see the entry Pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures in this glossary), we have adopted the following theoretical framework, drawing from various works in the field of educational sciences:

Competence refers to “the ability of a subject to mobilise, in an integrated way, internal resources (knowledge, skills and attitudes) and external resources to effectively address a set of complex tasks” (Beckers, 2002: p. 57).

Candelier et al. (2012) give an example of the link between a competence (adaptation) and the internal resources set out by FREPA (pp. 84-91). As for external resources, we might think of a dictionary, or a person with competence in a language whom we can ask for help.

Further information

As Le Boterf (1994: p. 16) points out: “While it is clear that a competence can only mobilise internal resources if the individual disposes of these resources, and that therefore working towards mastery of a competence presupposes working towards mastery of the internal resources that it mobilises, most authors insist that "competence does not reside in the resources (knowledge, abilities, etc.) to be mobilised, but in the actual mobilisation of these resources”.

It is worth noting that another Council of Europe reference framework uses the distinction between competences and resources, the Reference Framework of Competences for a Culture of Democracy (www.coe.int/en/web/reference-framework-of-competences-for-democratic-culture/rfcdc).

Way to (inter)act which demonstrates a certain degree of expertise, know-how and skills in digital technology.

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.

A principle used for devising teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks, that directly address the intended learning outcomes (Biggs and Tang 2011). Coherence between assessment, teaching strategies and intended learning outcomes in an educational programme.

Social actor who uses digital technology solely to access information and looks at what is disseminated. Activities such as surfing, researching, reading, listening, watching, browsing, and any other tasks linked with data processing (checking, evaluating…) correspond to this category.

Teaching the content of subjects in a foreign language (e.g. geography, history).

“Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) occurs when ‘subject’ teaching and learning (e.g. in Physics, Geography or Integrated Humanities) takes place concurrently with language teaching, particularly with respect to a foreign language. In English Language Teaching (ELT), forms of CLIL have previously been known as ‘content-based instruction’, 'English across the curriculum' and 'bilingual education.”

The context of implementation includes the circumstances and conditions which influence the decisions and actions taken during the process.

Context in language use can mean either (a) the text in which a spoken or written item is embedded or (b) the dimensions of the communicative situation (e.g. social) in which discourse is produced or understood.

Refers to events and situational factors (physical and others), both internal and external to a person, in which acts of communication are embedded.

The evaluation of a student’s progress throughout a course of study, as distinct from a summative, final assessment.

Co-operation is the process of working or acting together with others for mutual benefit.

There are four main conditions that tend to be necessary for cooperative behaviour to develop between two individuals:

• an overlap in desires;
• a chance of future encounters with the same individual;
• memory of past encounters with that individual;
• a value associated with future outcomes.

One of LACS’ aim is to further co-operation between language associations accross countries and languages.

Social actor who produces new content, practices, tools, as well as new ways to interact (on forums, blogs or wikis, etc.) and who actively engages in the digital society.

Way to (inter)act which adopts a critical stance towards digital technology and its content and leads to reflection on its advantages and limitations.

The term cross-lingual transfer refers to a situation that occurs when, in order to meet their needs for comprehension or expression, speakers draw on the linguistic resources available to them. In doing so, they sometimes resort to lexical knowledge or syntactic skills associated with another language. These transfers can be of great assistance: the closeness between two linguistic systems makes it possible to overcome difficulties, save valuable time and progress in the acquisition of a language. The ability to make such transfers needs to be developed. It plays a part in learning strategies. In some specific cases it may of course happen that a transfer made does not work or results in the use of an incorrect expression.

Cross-linguistic mediation is an everyday social activity and occurs when there is a need to communicate information from (at least) one language into another (or others), to have something clarified, to (re)interpret a message, to sum up what a text says for one or more persons, for an audience or for a group of readers, etc. taking into account the addressee, the communicative scenario or situation and the aim of the communicative encounter or task.

Cross-linguistic mediation tasks are those tasks which require users of languages to relay information from one language to another for a given communicative purpose or to engage in meaning negotiation across languages.

Consciousness and understanding of one’s own culture and the cultures of others.

The capacity, based on knowledge acquired about the history, civilisation and culture of a country or a group of countries with at least a partly shared history, to identify, understand and respect references shared by the inhabitants of a cultural area, their collective behaviour and the ways of living together which are prevalent there. When people have cultural competences related to several different areas, they possess a pluricultural competence which also enables them to put this knowledge into a relative perspective.

The social, historical, and cultural background in which language and communication occur.

A cognitive and communicative activity which involves, on the one hand, seeking to reduce any possible tension between several individuals or groups of individuals possessing different cultural references and, on the other, promoting mutual knowledge and understanding of these references to foster cohesion and co-operation between these individuals or groups.

Gestures that have specific meanings within a particular culture or community.

An overall description of the aims, content, and organisation of courses in an educational institution (ministry, school, etc.) generally providing a framework of objectives for different levels and sometimes defining methodologies to be used.

Curriculum is used in a broad sense. It enables learning to be organised at school level.

The process of planning and organising the content, activities, and learning experiences in a course or educational programme.

Cyclical is used to describe things that are regularly patterned or that occur in regular intervals.

A cyclical approach to language learning means that you come back to things at regular intervals to develop them further.