Poster Presentation

CEFR-Based Standardizationof Speaking Exercises for ESPInstruction
James Horvat
Institute for International Communication, Umeda, Osaka
Genre has an important role in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Swales (1990)
defines Genre as comprising “a class of communicative events, the members ofwhich share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognizedby the expert members of the discourse community, and thereby constitute thepurpose of the genre” (p. 58). Examples of written genres in business include
a letter of complaint or of confirmation (Dudley-Evans & St-John, 1998). Forthe medical community, research articles, case reports, and presentations arecommon genres.
Language users need to be able to communicate in certain genres to achievecertain objectives. The Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages (CEFR) is helpful for looking at overall ability. There are numerous“can-do lists” for speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The scales range
from A1 (lowest) to C2 (highest) in reading, writing, listening, and speaking(Council of Europe, 2001).
There has been much work done detailing the language used in spoken
genres in various fields. Also, there is a great deal of research and elaboration on
the various CEFR bands. However, there is little research investigating the use ofCEFR-specific speaking activities which are linked to specific spoken genres. In
this case study, CEFR-based speaking activities were used for the instruction oflanguage learners (Appendix). The learners were building their speaking abilities
149Horvatin language classes to improve their communication, in specific genres in theirprofessional field. In this case study, three language learners are discussed.
There has been a large amount of work on identifying genres used in different
professional settings. The research has identified the important areas of language
often used in those genres. Basturkmen (2010), describes course planning forEnglish for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes. She details various genres students
in certain fields must master. For example, spoken genres for police officers
include witness interviews and interviews of suspects. Also for doctors, thepatient interview (to ask about current symptoms and any prior treatment) is an
important genre.
Research has been done into CEFR-referenced instructional activities andinto examples of differences between CEFR bands. As previously mentioned,
this study utilizes a CEFR speaking ability grid with the six bands. Thesebands list expectations for vocabulary range, accuracy, fluency, interaction,and coherence (Council of Europe, 2001). Westhoff (2007) discusses the roleof the CEFR in guiding instruction. For speaking, it is important to highlightformulaic language or lexical chunks. Also, not overemphasizing accuracy isimportant. To improve accuracy, simpler grammar should be taught and simple,useful grammar rules should be given to language learners. Hulstijn, Schoonen,de Jong, Steinel, and Florijn (2012) describe concrete differences in vocabulary
and grammar knowledge between CEFR B1 and B2 language users. These twoareas are quite important for differentiating between the two bands. Also, rate ofspeaking is important. An Eiken Foundation of Japan (n.d.) website has videos
showing language user performance at CEFR bands B1, B2, and C1.
Research Questions:
1. Can CEFR-based speaking activities, which are linked to genre, be created for
language learners?
2. Can these CEFR-referenced speaking activities be used to effectively instructspoken communication in genres?

150

CEFR-Based Standardization, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 149-156

MethodThree participants are discussed (Table 1). They were language learners studying
at an ESP-based language school in the Umeda area of Osaka, Japan. All werein their 30s and 40s. Before commencing their study, the language users had an
initial interview to determine the genres that they needed to communicate in tocarry out their professional duties. They were given a level check test to determine
their CEFR band. A curriculum was made that assigned CEFR-referenced
speaking activities for the genre they needed. Off the shelf-textbooks were usedin addition to materials from the language learner’s workplace, such as catalogs,websites, building plans, papers to be published, or other workplace documents.
All instruction was one to one.

Participant A

This language user needed to discuss plans and architectural drawings. His
starting level was CEFR A2. The CEFR band above his current band guided
the speaking activities. The CEFR B1 (Range) descriptor lists some ability “toexpress him/herself… on topics such as… work, travel, and current events.” For
the B1 (Interaction) descriptor, it describes ability to “maintain… simple faceto-face conversation… on topics that are familiar” (Council of Europe, 2001, pp.
Table 1
Average Scores of Posters
CodeGenderApprox.
AgeStarting
CEFR Band

Area ofWorkA

M

40s

A2

Real Estate
Investment

Business Meeting,
Explanation ofDrawings & Plans

BF

30s

B1

MedicalResearch

Medical ResearchPresentation

A2Intellectual
Property

Business Meeting,Explanation ofLegal Concepts &Procedures

CF30s

151

Genres NeededHorvat28-29). To be able to do this, Oral Translation exercises and Quick Response(to questions) exercises were used. The exercises related to his work, for example,
talking about documents or architectural blueprints. Also, useful phrases formeetings were studied and Role Play was used to build a “repertoire of frequently
used routines or patterns”, from the B1 (Accuracy) descriptor (Council of Europe,
2001, pp. 28-29). With this help, he could communicate in the business meeting
genre and the explanation of architectural drawings genre. Over the course ofabout 18 months, he moved to a B1 band, and was more able to communicate inthose two genres.

Participant B

The need was for handling the medical presentation genre. The language learner’sability was CEFR B1. As with Participant A, the CEFR band above her current
band guided the speaking activities. The CEFR B1 (Fluency) descriptor says
“pausing… is very evident, especially in stretches of free production.” The B2(Fluency) descriptor says the language user “can produce stretches of languagewith a fairly even tempo” (Council of Europe, 2001, pp. 28-29). Longer-turn
Explanations and One-minute “Mini-Talks” were used to help the learner get
more used to speaking in longer turns, especially with four sentences or more.
To build rate of speed, noticing and practice with connected speech, including
elision, was used. The learner also rehearsed these longer turns for homework.
Although this language user remained at the B1 band, she was able to give a
successful medical presentation abroad.

Participant C

This language learner needed assistance with meetings and explaining legal
concepts in the Intellectual Property area. She started at the CEFR A2 abilitylevel. Quick Response (to questions) exercises and Oral Translation exercises
were used to move her into the CEFR B1 range, similar to with Participant A.
Once this learner entered the B1 range, Longer-turn Explanations, with five or
six sentences, were used. These helped her with the genre of Legal Concepts &Procedures Explanations. To assist her with the Business Meeting Genre, useful152

CEFR-Based Standardization, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 149-156

meeting phrases were taught and Role Plays were used. Additionally, a listening
summary exercise was used. This exercise helped her to summarize two or threeminutes of legal talking into her own words. Lectures from Coursera’s “A Law
Student’s Toolkit” (https://www.coursera.org/learn/law-student) course wereused. Listening summary allows better participation in meetings. The language
user gives a brief summary of what was said and then their own opinions. DudleyEvans and St John (1998) explain the need for “paraphrasing and summarizing sothat the speaker knows that their message has been heard” by other listeners (p.
106). She was able to move to B2. She is now better able to handle the meetingand legal concepts / procedures explanation genres. In autumn 2017, she had abusiness trip to the US, meeting with American lawyers in several cities, on behalfof her company.

Discussion

With the three cases, CEFR-referenced speaking activities, related to genre, werecreated for the language learners. These activities were effectively used to instruct
speaking. The activities could be created due to the genres being identified in a
pre-instruction interview. Also, the ability test for the CEFR band was given,prior to instruction. Using these activities, instruction was done, with theexpectation that the learner would practice speaking (in a rehearsal format) innon-instructional time. Other materials, such as textbooks or on-line lectures
were also studied by the participant. These CEFR-referenced speaking activities
allowed for increased ability to handle the language user’s needed genres.
For the future, it would be beneficial to explore ways to bring these speaking
activities into a small and large group setting. In this case study, the instruction
was one-to-one. As well, means to share these activities more widely, such as awiki, would also be helpful.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Keiji Fujimura, for his suggestion to write thisarticle.

153

Horvat

References

Basturkmen, H. (2010). Developing courses in English for specific purposes. New
York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference forlanguages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press.
Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specificpurposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press.
Eiken Foundation of Japan (n.d.). Gurobaru jinzai no eigoryoku te dono teido?
[How proficient is the English ability of manpower?]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.eiken.or.jp/speakingtest/
Hulstijn, J. H., Schoonen, R., de Jong, N. H., Steinel, M. P., & Florijn, A.
(2012). Linguistic competences of learners of Dutch as a second language
at the B1 and B2 levels of speaking proficiency of the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Language Testing, 29(2),203-221.
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings.
Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Westhoff, G. (2007). Challenges and opportunities of the CEFR forreimagining foreign language pedagogy. The Modern Language Journal,
91(4), 676-679.

Author bio

James Horvat is an Instructor at Kindai University, Faculty of Biology Oriented
Science and Technology, in Wakayama. He teaches Scientific Writing andEngineering Presentations courses. He also worked for the Institute for International
Communication (IIC), an ESP-Centered Language School in Osaka, for nine years.
j_horvat@waka.kindai.ac.jp
Received: October 2, 2017
Accepted: July 17, 2018
154

CEFR-Based Standardization, OnCUE Journal, 11(2), pages 149-156

Appendix
CEFR Referenced Activities ListRange

Accuracy

B2• Need to read broadly in English in
one’s field, and need to write (orspeak) summaries of this reading• Need to read current events in
English language media• Need to also expose oneself to casual/daily life English and notice thedifferences– formal, informal• Need to continue to notice one’serrors• Needs to be very receptive to error
correction, spoken & written• Needs to do grammar exercises• “Grammar Partner”- correct eachother’s spoken and written speech

B1• Studying descriptions used in thefield• Studying websites describingproducts• Seeing how things are described inTV commercials• Studying order of adjectives• Studying abbreviations• Writing descriptions, and then giving
them orally• Production, error correction• Noticing of errors• Listening to one’s own speech,
noticing errors• Listening to another’s speech,
noticing errors “Grammar Partner”• Grammar exercises from textbooks,
esp. Murphy

A2• Use phrasebooks to build ability todiscuss family, hobbies, work, travel,
current events (like 1,000 Knocks)• For the above purposes, use othermaterials such as NHK Radio / TV
English materials or commercial
textbooks• Oral Translation Activities• Pattern Practice• Making Sentences from prompts-Reading of simpler texts to getbasics of sentence structure• Drilling of forms• Describing a picture• Simple Descriptions

C2C1

A1

155

HorvatFluencyInteraction

Coherence

B2• A good deal of speaking
practice— repeating,“speaking partner”,
shadowing at home,
online English lessons• Self-timed speaking
activities• Uploading video blogs /YouTube videos• Noticing the discourse
markers one uses
• Study of discourse
markers used in TED
Talks, TV dramas,
documentaries, talkshows• Study of texts referringto this• Noticing one’s ownspeech• Noticing discourse
markers used inacademic andprofessional speech

B1• Practice giving asequence or a series ofsteps in a process• Practice giving a longer
talk, for 1 min• Repeat speaking tasks
at home• Shadowing exercises athome• Role plays, done twotimes after correction• Voice diary• Role plays practicing
initiating conversations• Practicing follow up
questions• Practicing interrupting
others & keeping
one’s turn when being
interrupted• Summarizing a longer
period of speech, giving
the summary, thengiving one’s opinion• Noticing cohesive
devices one is using• Doing exercises oncohesive devices• Studying DiscourseMarkers• Listening to a longer
period of speech, noting
the cohesive devices used

A2

• Making shortpresentations (3 - 5sentences)• Short Role Plays• Rehearsing simple
interactions, phoneopenings• Short introductions
with repetition• Repeating what has been • Use of linking words
said• More use of cohesive• Using phrases thatdevices to give a simple
integrate speech fromnarrative
the other person
to clarify meaning,confirm, or respond• Role plays• Intensive question /answer

C1
C2

A1

156