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My dear friends,
I just want to let you know that a big project with the European Council is going on the moment. See the letter by Brian North below:

Dear Colleague,

I’m very happy to let you know that the CEFR Companion volume with New Descriptors is now online on the CEFR website http://www.coe.int/lang-CEFR – on the right hand side, under Full 2001 text.
Alternatively, here is a direct link: CEFR Companion Volume with New Descriptors The French version will be published before the end of the year, with German following next Spring.
I am writing because you were on my distribution list for the project. Murat Kilic of the Council of Europe’s Education Policy Division will be the person giving you future updates on developments connected with the CEFR.
If you do not want me to give Murat your email address, please write to tell me by 30 September. No other organisation will be given your address.
Meanwhile, a final project update:
The Companion Volume is intended as a complement to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). It represents another important step in a process that has been pursued by the Council of Europe since 1971 and owes much to the contributions of members of the language teaching profession across Europe and beyond. The “Companion Volume” is the Council of Europe’s response to requests that have been made by the groups involved in the field of language education to complement the original illustrative scales with more descriptors. In addition to the extended illustrative descriptors, it contains an introduction to the aims and main principles of the CEFR.
The Companion Volume thus contains:
– A text explaining key aspects of the CEFR for teaching and learning
– Updated versions of the 2001 scales (gaps filled: better description at A1 and the C-levels, new analytic scale for phonology)
– Descriptors for new areas: mediation (including reactions to creative text/literature), online interaction , and plurilingual/pluricultural competence
– Examples for the mediation descriptors for the four domains public, personal, occupational, educational
– A brief rationale for each descriptors scales (old as well as new)
– A brief account of the development project
A fuller account of the project to develop the scales for the new areas (mediation etc.) is available here
A report on the development and validation of the new phonology scale is available here

A collation of descriptors suitable for younger learners aged 7-10 and 11-14 respectively is available here

The chronology of the project was as follows:
– September 2013 – April 2014: preparatory work for the update of 2001 scales
– April – August 2014: update of 2001 scales
– January – September 2014: preparatory work for the development of new scales
– September 204 – February 2015: development of new scales
– February 2015 – February 2016: validation and revision of new scales
– March – July 2015: reporting
– July 2015 – February 2017: consultation of member states, invited institutions and individual experts
– January – August 2017: piloting
– September 2017: provisional publication

An ISBN “pretty” publication – with new scales for aspects of signing competence will be published in English, French and German during 2018.

As all big endeavours, this Companion volume has required the joint efforts of so many committed people, at every level, from the initial idea through all the hundreds of validation workshops to the consultation and 60 pilot projects, and of course the resulting redrafting and revision. It required a lot of energy, passion and hard work from all those who participated and contributed.
The authoring group Enrica Piccardo, Tim Goodier, Maria Stathopolou and myself hope that you will have the opportunity to explore the relevance of the new descriptors to your educational context.

In signing off, I would just like to give my sincere thanks the 1500 or so of you who took the time and energy to be involved in this project.

With very best wishes

Brian North
Council of Europe CEFR project coordinator