CEFR Levels

As you might be aware here at the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies we follow the Common European Framework for teaching languages. This Framework defines the way we develop our courses and indeed the course structure o syllabus. 

The CEFR organizes language proficiency into six levels, A1 to C2. These can be grouped into three broad categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. These levels can be further subdivided to fit local needs and are defined by 'can-do' descriptors. The key idea of the CEFR is that course planning, teaching, and assessment should be aligned. Using CEFR concepts and descriptors helps define educational objectives.

The descriptors of each level are not as straight forward initally as they include a series of 'can-do' habilities and language aptitudes that move between written, speaking, pronunciation, reading comprehension and listening comprehension. But for the sake of offering an overview to our syllabus here at SPLAS, below you will find a general overview of what can be mastered at each level. 

A1

A2

B1

B2

C1

C2

Please note: This is a general and flexible framework that can be adapted to the specific needs and abilities of each group of students. The key is to provide a gradual progression and opportunities to practice language skills in various contexts and situations.

A more detailed overview of the descriptors can be accessed here.

Source: https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/level-descriptions

Level A1 (Beginners)

Objectives:

• Understand and use everyday expressions.
• Introduce oneself and others.
• Interact in a basic way when the interlocutor speaks slowly and clearly.

Contents: Basic Vocabulary and Expressions:

• Greetings and introductions.
• Numbers, days of the week, months, time.
• Food, drink, clothing, etc.

Elementary Grammar:

• Present tense of regular and irregular verbs.
• Definite and indefinite articles.
• Personal pronouns.

Suggested Activities:

• Simple introduction dialogues.
• Vocabulary exercises with images.
• Listening practice with slow and clear audios.
• Role-plays for basic everyday situations.

Level A1.1

General Information:

• Identify people, places, and objects.
• Describe people, places, objects, and states.
• Compare people, objects, places, situations, and actions.
• Express reasons for studying Spanish.
• Refer to habitual or present actions.
• Express feelings, desires, and preferences.
• Express and ask about likes and dislikes.
• Express and ask about satisfaction and desire.
• Requests: Ask for something in a public establishment, ask about the price of an object.
• Social language uses: Greet and say goodbye, introduce someone and react to being introduced, congratulate and thank.
• Control of oral communication: Indicate you don't understand, ask for repetition, verify understanding, spell and ask for spelling, ask someone to write something, ask about an unknown or forgotten word or expression, ask someone to speak slower or louder.

Alphabet and Pronunciation:

• Intonation: Realization of intonational patterns (statement, negative, and interrogative).
• Accent and rhythm. Syllable division.
• Differentiation and use of uppercase and lowercase.

Numerals:

• Formation and agreement of the most common ordinal and cardinal numbers.
• Common weights and measures.
• Millions, only show and recognize.

Uses of 'ser' and 'estar':

• Use 'ser' to identify. 'Ser' + noun.
• Use 'ser' + adjective for nationality, profession, origin, kinship, ideology, material.
• Use 'ser' to express time.
• Use 'estar' + adverbs of manner.
• Use 'estar' for the location of objects and people.
• Contrast 'ser'/ 'tener'/'llevar' in descriptions.
• 'Hay'/'está'.

Verb Tenses:

• Present indicative of the most common regular and irregular verbs. Use present as imperative.
• Common reflexive verbs (llamarse, dedicarse...).
• Verbs 'gustar' and 'parecer'.
• Introduction of infinitive verbal periphrases: 'tener que', 'ir a', 'querer', 'poder', 'necesitar'.
• Adverbs: Quantity, affirmation, negation, manner, time, and place.
• Prepositions and prepositional phrases (a/de/para/en/con...).

Temporal References:

• Present indicators.
• Expression of time (only show and recognize), days of the week, months, dates, seasons.

Level A1.2

Opinions:

• Express and ask for opinions about someone or something.
• Express and ask about agreement and disagreement.
• Confirm and deny someone else's information (Isn't it true? Do you think so?).

Knowledge and Certainty:

• Express knowledge and ignorance.

Feelings, Desires, and Preferences:

• Express and ask for preferences.
• Express and ask about desire and need.

Alphabet (Review):

• Pronunciation.
• Recognition and transcription of the main punctuation marks.

Nouns:

• Gender: Rules for differentiating gender by ending. Most common special cases. Gender of nouns referring to people (profession, kinship, etc.).
• Number: Formation of plurals.

Agreement:

• Article morphology. Contraction.
• General uses of definite and indefinite articles.
• Presence and absence: General rules. Most common special cases: In treatments; with temporal markers; with 'hay'/'está'.

Adjectives:

• Descriptive adjective.
• Gentilics.
• Gender and number. Agreement.
• Comparatives of superiority and inferiority.

Personal Pronoun:

• Unstressed and stressed forms.
• Function as subject and direct object: presence, absence, and placement.
• Show and recognize as direct object.

Demonstratives:

• Morphology and use to identify, point out, and distinguish.

Possessives:

• Unstressed and stressed forms.
• General uses: Identification, property relations.
• Alternation article/possessive.

Indefinite and Quantitative Pronouns:

• Morphology and use of the most common.
• Apocopated forms.
• Oppositions something/nothing.

Interrogatives:

• Morphology and use of direct interrogative.
• Use of the most common interrogative particles: what/which/who.

Verb Tenses (Review):

• Present indicative of the most common regular and irregular verbs. Use present as imperative.
• Most common reflexive verbs (llamarse, dedicarse...).
• Verbs 'gustar' and 'parecer' and others "A mí me...".
• Introduction of infinitive verbal periphrases: 'tener que', 'ir a', 'querer', 'poder', 'necesitar'.
• Adverbs: Quantity, affirmation, negation, manner, time, and place.
• Prepositions and prepositional phrases (a/de/para/en/con...).

Temporal References (Review):

• Present indicators.
• Expression of time (only show and recognize), days of the week, months, dates, seasons.

Sentence Constructions:

• Declarative sentences (affirmative and negative).
• Direct interrogative sentences.
• Coordinated sentences with the most common conjunctions.
• Comparative sentences of inferiority and superiority with frequently used particles.
• Adjectival sentences with the verb in indicative, introduced by the most common relative pronouns (that, where...).
• Causal and final sentences (because, for + infinitive).

Most used abbreviations. Addresses (Mr., Mrs., St., No...). Ordinals. Forms of address.

Level A2 (Elementary)

Objectives:

• Understand frequently used phrases and expressions.
• Communicate in simple and routine situations.

Contents: Vocabulary and Expressions Expansion:

• Daily activities, transportation, weather, etc.
• Expressions for giving and asking directions, shopping, etc.

More Advanced Grammar:

• Simple past tense of regular and irregular verbs.
• Simple future tense.
• Reflexive pronouns.

Level A2.1

General Information:

• Refer to past actions and situations (preterite and imperfect).
• Opinions.
• Knowledge and Certainty.
• Express and ask about the degree of (un)certainty.
• Obligation, permission, and possibility.
• Express and ask if it is possible to do something.
• Express and ask about the obligation to do something.
• Ask for, grant, or deny permission.
• Feelings, desires, and preferences.

Pronunciation:

• Intonation.
• Accent and rhythm.

Nouns:

• Article.
• Descriptive adjective.
• Personal pronoun.
• Alongside imperative forms.
• Function as direct and indirect object: double pronoun.

Level A2.2

Social Uses of Language:

• React to information or a story with expressions of interest, surprise, joy, sadness, etc.

Control of Oral Communication:

• Indicate you don't understand.
• Ask for repetition.
• Verify understanding.
• Ask someone to write something.
• Ask about an unknown or forgotten word or expression.
• Ask someone to speak slower or louder.

Uses of 'ser' and 'estar' (Review).

Verb Tenses:

• Preterite of the most common regular and irregular verbs. Morphology and use.
• Future imperfect.
• Preterite perfect/preterite according to temporal markers.
• Imperfect of the most common regular and irregular verbs. Morphology and use.
• Imperative: morphology of the most common uses. Uses to invite to perform an action and to give simple instructions. Imperative + unstressed pronouns.
• Non-personal forms.
• Morphology and use of the infinitive in a substantive function and periphrases.
• Morphology and use of the participle in an adjectival function and in compound tenses.

Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases:

• Quantity, affirmation, negation, manner.
• Prepositions and prepositional phrases.
• Temporal references.
• Past indicators.
• Indicators of precedence and posteriority with respect to the present (before, after).

Sentence Constructions:

• Exclamatory and exhortative sentences. Uses of the most common interjections.
• Impersonal use of poder and other verbs (cooking recipes, instructions...).
• Impersonal use of 'se' (se puede...).
• Subordinate sentences.
• Substantive with the verb in indicative or infinitive (I think that, I believe that...).
• Temporal, causal adverbials with the verb in indicative and introduced by the most common conjunctions.
• Adjectival with the verb in indicative

Level B1 (Intermediate)

Objectives:
- Understand and write simple texts.
- Participate in conversations on familiar topics.

Contents:
**Broader Vocabulary:**
- Work, education, health, leisure, etc.
- Idiomatic and colloquial expressions.

More Complex Grammar:
- Imperfect and perfect past tense.
- Simple conditional.
- Use of verb tenses in context.

Functional Content:

Talking About the Past:
- Express habitual actions.
- Describe past situations.
- Express an action that occurred within a finished time frame.
- Talk about an action that happened only once.
- Describe the situation or circumstances in which an event occurred.
- Narrate past events; biographies.
- Personal experiences.
- Express a past action that happened before another past action.
- Express the duration of an action that started in the past and continues in the present.

Expressing Ability:
- Define personality.
- Express the cause of an event.
- Express probability.
- Express moods: joy, sadness, surprise.

Giving Information About a Place:
- Describe.
- Ask for and give cultural information.
- Make comparisons: highlight one thing among several.
- Express wishes and future plans.
- Sequence future activities.
- Express a future project.
- Social congratulations and wishes.
- Ask for the truth of information.

Talking About Personal Relationships:
- Show interest in someone and their life.
- Express the impression a person makes on us.

Grammar Content:
Verb Tenses:
- Uses of the past tenses: perfect, imperfect, simple past, and pluperfect indicative.
- "To look like someone."
- "I'm good/bad at..."
- Probability periphrases: "must (have) / have to + infinitive."
- Verbs with prepositions (to be happy about, to be fed up with...).
- Verbs expressing mood changes (to get nervous, to be scared, to get angry...).
- Present subjunctive for expressing wishes.

Uses of 'ser':
- 'Ser' + adjectives of personality (qualities and defects).

Temporal Markers:
- Beginning and duration of an action (ago, since, since when).
- Actions that happened only once (one day, once, that day...).
- Actions that happened frequently (usually, many days, sometimes...).
- Expressing a future project (within...).

Discourse Connectors:
- When, then, after, so.
- Because and as.

Prepositions:
- To narrate past events (to + definite article + amount of time + infinitive).

Quantifiers:
- Too much, very, quite, rather, somewhat, (a) little, nothing.

Exclamatory Phrases:
- What + noun.
- How much/How + verb.
- "Hopefully."

Sentence Constructions:
- Comparisons: relative superlative.

Level C1 (Advanced)

Objectives:

• Understand complex texts and linguistic subtleties.
• Express oneself with great fluency and precision.

Contents: Advanced Vocabulary:

• Literature, philosophy, history, etc.
• Cultural and regional expressions.

Refined Grammar:

• Advanced use of the subjunctive.
• Indirect style.
• Complex idioms and expressions.

Suggested Activities:

• Critical analysis of literary works or academic articles.
• Extensive presentations and in-depth debates.
• Writing essays or argumentative texts.

Functional Content:

• Physical and personality description.
• Judge and evaluate.
• Tell stories. Express temporal relationships between actions.
• Correct erroneous information.
• Define.
• Give instructions.
• Give and ask for opinions.
• Advise.
• Persuade and convince.
• Resources to express partial agreement or disagreement with someone else.
• Express doubt and reservation.

Grammatical Content:

• Compositional elements associated with nouns: frequently used prefixes and suffixes. Adjectives with both genders.
• Comparative constructions like more/less than, more/less than, and the more/less...
• Uses of "ser" and "estar" + descriptive adjective.
• Vocabulary related to the body and personality.
• Morphology and uses of the preterites in Spanish indicative.
• Temporal markers. Story organizers.
• Verbal periphrases to mark temporal perspective: "estar" + gerund/participle, "ir a" + infinitive, "estar a punto de" + infinitive.
• Morphology and uses of the present and imperfect subjunctive.
• Morphology and uses of the conditional.
• Uses of the subjunctive and conditional in noun clauses to: express opinion, advise, formulate wishes, express feelings and moods.
• Uses of the indicative and subjunctive in final, modal, and temporal clauses.
• Pronouns and relative adverbs. Morphology and common uses.
• Sentence constructions with pronouns and relative adverbs with prepositions.
• Vocabulary related to the home. Expressions and idioms.
• Personal pronouns.
• Demonstratives and the pronoun "lo" with prepositional phrases.

Strategic Content:

• Resources for talking about language learning.
• Resources to control communication in class.
• Negotiation of personal strategies and techniques for language learning.
• Reflection and negotiation about the process of learning a language.
• Resources and techniques for organizing and improving written texts.
• Resources to show interest in and inform about the content of a written text.
• Resources to request actions from others: announcing an action, asking for a favor, offering help and accepting or rejecting it, giving instructions, advising or advising against, asking for information in public services.
• Resources and strategies to refer to the past: resources to organize a story, to react to a story, to relate different moments of the past, to talk about changes over time, to describe a situation in the past.
• Positive learning strategies discovered during the course.
• Exposure to and reflection on the peninsular and Latin American Spanish variants and their relationship with learning.

Cultural Content:

• Daily life: work practices and leisure activities...
• Living conditions: living standards and quality of life...
• Personal relationships: social structure, family structure and relationships, intergenerational relationships, power and solidarity relationships, race and community relationships...
• Values, beliefs, and attitudes: professional groups, regional cultures, national identity, countries, states, and foreign peoples, politics, arts, wealth, income, and inheritance, humor...
• Body language (CEFR: 87-88).
• Social conventions: conventions and taboos related to behavior and conversations...
• Ritual behavior in areas such as: ceremonies and family events, public and private celebrations...