Comparing Two Approaches for Measuring English as a Second Language

This paper aims to investigate how proficiency rating scales, such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; Council of Europe), measure English as a second language (L2). While the CEFR has played an important role as a reference tool in second/foreign language teaching, learning, and assessment worldwide, few empirical studies have been conducted to explore how L2 learners at each proficiency level of the CEFR perform in various linguistic situations. In the present study, the data was collected from eighty-eight Japanese native (L1) speakers learning English L2, and each of them performed two tasks, namely spoken and written narratives. The participants’ English L2 performance was assessed using a proficiency rating, i.e., the CEFR and their grammatical development were analysed through Pienemann’s Processability Theory (PT). The results of the analyses demonstrated that there was a statistically significant correlation between the CEFR levels and PT stages but only in their spoken production. The Japanese learners of English at the higher developmental stages as found in the PT analysis were not necessarily regarded as ‘independent’ or ‘proficient’ L2 users according to the CEFR rating. Further, discrepancies between the two approaches were evident, particularly in the L2 written production.