Journal

Mission statement

The CEFR Journal is an online, open-access, peer-to-peer journal for practitioners and researchers. Our board of editors comprises stakeholders on a wide range of levels and from around the world. One aim of our journal is to create an open space for exchanging ideas on classroom practice and implementation related to the CEFR and/or other language frameworks, as well as sharing research findings and results on learning, teaching, and assessment-related topics. We are committed to a strong bottom-up approach and the free exchange of ideas. A journal by the people on the ground for the people on the ground with a strong commitment to extensive research and academic rigor. Learning and teaching languages in the 21st century, accommodating the 21st century learner and teacher. All contributions have undergone multiple double-blind peer reviews. 

We encourage you to submit your texts and volunteer yourself for reviewing. Thanks a million.

Aims, goals, and purposes

Our aim is to take a fresh look at the CEFR and other language frameworks from both a practitioner’s and a researcher’s perspective. We want the journal to be a platform for all to share best practice examples and ideas, as well as research. It should be globally accessible to the wider interested public, which is why we opted for an open online journal format.

The impact of the CEFR and now the CEFR Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) has been growing to previously wholly unforeseeable levels. Especially in Asia, there are several large-scale cases of adoption and adaptation of the CEFR to the needs and requirements on the ground. Such contexts often focus majorly on English language learning and teaching. However, there are other language frameworks, such as the ACTFL and the Canadian benchmarks, while the Chinese Standard of English (CSE) is also on its way. On the one hand there is a growing need for best practice examples in the form of case studies, and on the other hand practitioners are increasingly wanting to exchange their experiences and know-how. Our goal is to close the gap between research and practice in foreign language education related to the CEFR, CEFR/CV, and other language frameworks. Together, we hope to help address the challenges of 21st century foreign language learning and teaching on a global stage. In Europe, many take the CEFR and its implementation for granted, and not everyone reflects on its potential uses and benefits. Others are asking for case studies showing the effectiveness of the CEFR and the reality of its usage in everyday classroom teaching. In particular, large-scale implementation studies simply do not exist. Even in Europe, there is a center and a periphery of readiness for CEFR implementation. It is difficult to bring together the huge number of ongoing projects from the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML), and the EU aiming to aid the implementation of the CEFR. This results in a perceived absence in the substance of research. Outside Europe, the CEFR has been met with very different reactions and speeds of adaptation and implementation. Over the last few years, especially in Asia, the demand by teachers for reliable (case) studies has been growing.
For more than a decade, the people behind this journal – the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) CEFR & Language Portfolio special interest group (CEFR & LP SIG) – have been working on a number of collaborative research projects, yielding several books and textbooks, as well as numerous newsletters. This is a not-for-profit initiative; there are no institutional ties or restraints in place. The journal aims to cooperate internationally with other individuals and/or peer groups of practitioners/researchers with similar interests. We intend to create an encouraging environment for professional, standard-oriented practice and state-of-the-art foreign language teaching and research, adapted to a variety of contexts.

Editorial advisory board

Call for contributions for volume 6 (2023) is OPEN now. Please submit.

Theme: CEFR and CEFR/CV, Language Portfolio and related themes

For starters, we are looking for abstracts of 250-300 words (excluding keywords and bibliography) by 31st March 2023.

Categories for contribution we are looking for are:
articles (4,500-6,000 words),
work in progress/practice reports (2,000-3,000 words),
book reviews (400-500 words), or
conference reports (400-500 words).

We are especially – but not exclusively – seeking contributions addressing theoretical and/or practical issues surrounding the CEFR, the CEFR Companion Volume (CV). The CEFR Journal is keen to learn your thoughts on this matter.
The abstracts need to state the category, give an outline of the intended text, name a minimum of five keywords, and present a preliminary bibliography.

If and when chosen by the CEFR Journal Editorial Advisory Board – see p. 3 in volume 1 (plus, additional more recently recruited experts in the field). All contributors will be contacted after preliminary screening. If accepted you will be asked to submit your text. A double blind peer review will follow. You may be asked to revise your text, before it becomes part of the next volume of our exciting new CEFR Journal.

Please direct all communication towards This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Looking forward to your contributions.
JALT CEFR & LP SIG

This journal attempts to fall somewhere in between an inaccessible academic journal (long waiting times, fairly strict guidelines/criteria) and a newsletter (practical in nature but lacking in theoretical support/foundation), linking research of a practical nature with relevant research related to foreign language education, the CEFR, other language frameworks, and the European Language Portfolio. While the CEFR was introduced by the Council of Europe and intended for use, first and foremost, within Europe, the influence of the CEFR now has to be attested in many places beyond European borders. It has become a global framework, impacting a variety of aspects of language learning, teaching, and assessment across countries and continents beyond the context for which it was originally created. As such, there is a pressing need to create a quality forum for sharing research, experiences, and lessons learned from applying the CEFR in different contexts. This journal provides such a forum where people involved or interested in processes of applying the CEFR can share and learn from one another.

 We are continuously seeking contributions related to foreign language education, the CEFR, other language frameworks, and the European Language Portfolio. We are particularly interested in specific contextual adaptations.

Please contact the editors and submit to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Guidelines 

Peer review guidelines:

We ask all peer reviewers to make every reasonable effort to adhere to the following ethical guidelines for the CEFR Journal – Research and Practice submissions that they have agreed to review:

1.  Reviewers must give unbiased consideration to each manuscript submitted for consideration for publication, and should judge each on its merits, without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the author(s).
2. Reviewers should declare any potential conflict of interest prior to agreeing to review a manuscript, including any relationship with the author that may potentially bias their review.
3. Reviewers must keep the peer review process confidential; information or correspondence about a manuscript should not be shared with anyone outside the peer review process.
4. Reviewers should provide a constructive, comprehensive, evidenced, and appropriately substantial peer review report.
5. Reviewers must avoid making statements in their report that might be construed as impugning a person’s reputation.
6. Reviewers should make all reasonable efforts to submit their report and recommendation in a timely manner, informing the editor if this is not possible.
7. Reviewers should call to the journal editor’s attention any significant similarity between the manuscript under consideration and any published paper or submitted manuscript of which they are aware.

Adapted from © Taylor & Francis Online

Author instructions:

deGruyter Mouton guidelines for Language Learning in Higher Education (CercleS) and style sheet