The Council of Europe’s CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) scale is something we’re almost instinctively aware of as language learners. A1/2, B1/2 and C1/2 are the shorthand we regularly use for fluency. A recent paper by Gökhan Haldun Demirdöven in Frontiers in Education takes a long-overdue fresh look at the framework in light of new immersive, technology-mediated language learning. How does our common language ladder mesh with recent developments?

A lot of recent work on language learning tech focuses on platforms such as XR, AI-driven environments and conversational agents almost as a pedagogical end in themselves. Instead, this paper asks a more structured question: how might these technologies meaningfully align with what the CEFR already – with well-established practical application – conceptualises as language ability?

In other words, can we design immersive digital environments to support the kinds of communicative action, mediation, and interaction that CEFR descriptors actually describe?

CEFR : More Than Just Assessment

The author takes the 2020 revisions to the CEFR as a starting point, identifying features of the updated framework – particularly its emphasis on mediation, multiple competences, and real-world communicative tasks – and considers how these might map onto immersive learning contexts. Examples include simulated environments for task-based interaction, AI-supported conversational agents, and speech-recognition systems that are sensitive to sociolinguistic variation rather than enforcing a single normative model.

One enlightening conclusion is that the CEFR is not simply an assessment tool; it is also a design framework. New language learning technologies are useful as long as they support CEFR-aligned communicative action, rather than as standalone innovations. This is a helpful course correction in a space where language-learning technologies can sometimes prioritise novelty over pedagogical coherence. For me, as a language software developer, it’s certainly something that strikes home – language professionals should avoid developing new language tech in a vacuum, and instead build on previous work with a proven track record.

For teachers, curriculum designers, and language-learning app developers, it’s a really timely reminder that innovation in language learning does not have to sit outside existing standards. Frameworks like the CEFR can play an active role in shaping how new technologies are pedagogically grounded.