Chapter 13: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and The Common Framework for Europe Competence

The aim of Elos (Europe as a learning environment in schools—a Comenius 3 Project of the European Union)¹ is to encourage the development of “Europeanness” in the member schools. The development of genuine communication among member schools and the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity are key elements in doing this, and the common European framework is an essential tool for achieving them, and for this reason its levels are an integral part of the common framework for Europe competence (CFEC; see Maslowski, Naayer, Oonk, & Van der Werf, 2009) and it shares many common values with it. The methodology of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001) is based on the definition and description of competences, and this provides some interesting models for developing a competence-based approach to European and citizenship issues. Further developments of the framework competences have explored the use of “pluralistic approaches” to both general and language education, and this, too, is relevant to international and European education. In this chapter, I will describe all four of these aspects.