Aligning tasks with the CEFR for the English certification in Cuban universities

Abstract

The development of a coherent teaching and certification system for assessing university students´ English proficiency with reference to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) proficiency levels represents the most outstanding result of the comprehensive strategy for the management of English education developed by the Ministry of Higher Education (MES) since the introduction of the language policy in 2015. Nonetheless, the usage of traditional approaches in the classroom is still reflected in task development and in learning assessment. Thus, this paper aims at explaining task alignment with the CEFR for the English proficiency certification in Cuban higher education. The alignment of tasks with the CEFR for the assessment of the English language meant a mandatory and crucial step to validly and reliably certify students in Cuban universities in line with current international trends and language standards, and a big qualitative step in the professionals’ comprehensive instruction in Cuban higher education.