Honourable Mention: Commitment to Core French, Extended French and French Immersion Students in Ontario

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)* is the reference framework used at the international level to describe the proficiency of learners of a second language, including French. It was designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the development of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.

In the past four years, the CEFR has been deployed in Ontario’s 60 English-language school boards as a tool to inform planning, instruction and assessment practices in French-as-a-second-language (FSL) courses. This initiative represents a commitment to helping Core French, Extended French and French Immersion students to improve their functional French-language skills. In applying these international guidelines, the Ontario government is committed to

• increasing student confidence, proficiency and achievement;
• increasing the percentage of students studying FSL until graduation;
• increasing student, educator, parent and community engagement in FSL.

This common framework of reference could also possibly be a good basis for discussion among governments and the private sector to develop a common basis of assessment of language skills, as opposed to everyone having different standards. To be followed.

The Honourable Mentions Series is a series of 11 blog posts that the Commissioner is releasing to individually recognize the leadership shown by government ministries and agencies that have made efforts to expand the delivery of high-quality French-language services, as listed in his 2013-2014 Annual Report here.

*Website available in French only