Paper short abstract:

In this presentation, the characteristics of language competences drawn in RFCDC are compared with that of CEFR. The main reason for the difference is that CEFR puts importance on what can be done in the target language, whereas RFCDC promotes to relativize the way of language use.

Paper long abstract:

The purpose of this presentation is to clarify what language competences are required for citizens in the RFCDC (Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture). The RFCDC conceptual diagram, published by Council of Europe in 2017, is expressed in a flower-like form with four petals (values, attitudes, skills, knowledge and critical understanding). Each petal is presented with related fields, each accompanied by a list of competence descriptors. The competence descriptors are roughly divided into three stages, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced, and more specifically, five stages including BI (between Basic and Intermediate) and IA (between Intermediate and Advanced).

In this study, a total of 447 competence descriptors are examined if they are related to (pluri)lingual competences, and if the answer is yes, in which field on which petal they are positioned. Also, we tried to find the characteristics of these descriptors compared to CEFR.

As a result:

1) There were 45 descriptors related (pluri)lingual competences. Thirty of which were in the "Linguistic, communicative and plurilingual skills" field on the "Skills" petal and 13 of which were in the "Knowledge and critical understanding of language and communication" field on the "Knowledge and Critical Understanding" petal.

2) While there are many similarities between the competence descriptions of the CEFR basic level (A1-A2) and that of the RFCDC basic or basic-intermediate level, the emphasis differs greatly for the advanced levels (C1 and C2 of CEFR, IA and Advanced of RFCDC). This is because CEFR puts importance on what can be done in the specific target language, whereas at the advanced level of RFCDC, it is to relativize and to take scope from the way of language use that one already has in　their language repertoire and is accustomed to.