CEFR and Lexical Profile Scores with the CEFR Scorecard

The Text Inspector Scorecard, or Lexical Profile ©, gives you a clear idea of the level of your text in terms of the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference).

This is the most widely used reference point in the world for language levels, especially at an academic level.

The analysis includes an ‘at a glance’ Lexical Profile © Score and estimated CEFR level of the text.

Learn more here:

The CEFR (Common European Framework of References for Languages) is a framework that helps describe language proficiency in a foreign language using a scale from A1-C2.

This allows:
1). Language learners to better understand their current abilities and find the right courses and learning materials for them.

2). Language teachers, curriculum creators and course developers to improve teaching materials and methods.

3). Educational institutions and prospective employers to directly compare language abilities.

The CEFR levels are as follows:

At Text Inspector, we also use a level which we have called D (divided into D1 and D2) which is not part of the original CEFR framework.

We’ve created these levels to indicate when a text is of a higher academic level with D1 denoting university undergraduate standard language use and D2 indicating above this level.

Although this is a departure from the original framework, we believe that it is a useful addition as it helps describe these high levels of proficiency not normally represented in the framework.

When you analyse your text using the Text Inspector tool you should first add your text by typing, pasting or uploading a document.

Next you should choose the correct type of text from the dropdown box on the left.

This is an important step because different metrics are used for each mode and will affect the final results given. You can choose between reading, writing or listening.

Once you’ve done this, you will be taken to a full overview of your analysis.

Then simply look to the left side of the page and click the orange menu option ‘Scorecard’ (subscribers only).

This will take you to the Scorecard information, including the percentage of the text (100% representing a native speaker-level) and the estimated CEFR level.

Below this you will see a full, in depth breakdown of the metrics of your analysed text.

You can view this information in a user friendly colour-coded format by clicking the ‘Open all’ button on the summary section if preferred.

Tips on using the Lexical Profile © & CEFR Score

When using Text Inspector’s Scorecard to get a Lexical Profile ©, you should remember the following:

– The Lexical Profile © is only an estimate. You should not use it for any purpose without taking account of other factors.

– These measures are calculated using texts in English. This means they shouldn’t be treated as valid for texts in other languages.

– Currently, the Lexical Profile © is based on analysis of student writing, reading and listening. Therefore you should exercise caution when using it to analyse speaking data.

– The Lexical Profile © assesses only vocabulary and metadiscourse. To get a full idea of the difficulty of a text you must also take account of other aspects grammatical complexity, context of use, and so on.

– Lexical Profile © uses a limited number of measures to distinguish between CEFR levels. Therefore, don’t assume it tells complete story about the level of a text.

The Text Inspector Scorecard gives you a clear idea of the level of your text in terms of the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference). This is the most widely used reference point in the world for language levels, especially at an academic level.

The analysis includes an ‘at a glance’ Lexical Profile © Score and estimated CEFR level of the text.

It also provides a detailed breakdown of the metrics used in the calculation, including;

Statistics/Syllables
Lexical diversity
Lexical Sophistication: English Vocabulary Profile (incl. % of words at each level)
Lexical Sophistication: British National Corpus
Lexical Sophistication: Corpus of Contemporary American English
Lexical Sophistication: Academic Word List
Metadiscourse markers
We use these metrics because they are statistically significant when it comes to distinguishing between different levels of language ability.

The greater number of metrics used, the more accurate our analysis is likely to be.

What is the CEFR scale?

The CEFR (Common European Framework of References for Languages) is a framework that helps describe language proficiency in a foreign language using a scale from A1-C2.

This allows:

language learners to better understand their current abilities and find the right courses and learning materials for them.
language teachers, curriculum creators and course developers to improve teaching materials and methods.
educational institutions and prospective employers to directly compare language abilities.
The CEFR levels are as follows:

What is the ‘D’ grade?

At Text Inspector, we also use a level which we have called D (divided into D1 and D2) which is not part of the original CEFR framework.

We’ve created these levels to indicate when a text is of a higher academic level with D1 denoting university undergraduate standard language use and D2 indicating above this level.

Although this is a departure from the original framework, we believe that it is a necessary addition as it helps describe these high levels of proficiency not normally represented in the framework.

These ideas are widely supported within the Applied Linguistics field and are summarised nicely in this remark from Professor Nick Saville in his 2012 paper ‘The English profile: Using learner data to develop the CEFR for English’;

“Language specialists such as interpreters, professional writers and so on may develop skills which exceed the C2 level thus allowing for a possible D level.”

Bear in mind that this ‘D’ grade is our own terminology so you should explain this when citing Text Inspector.

Where do I find the CEFR scorecard in analysis?

When you analyse your text using the Text Inspector tool you should first add your text by typing, pasting or uploading.

Next you should choose the correct type of text from the dropdown box on the left.

This is an important step because different metrics are used for each mode and will affect the final results given. You can choose between reading, writing or listening.

Once you’ve done this, you will be taken to a full overview of your analysis.

Then simply look to the left side of the page and click the orange menu option ‘Scorecard’ (subscribers only).

This will take you to the Scorecard information, including the percentage of the text (100% representing a native speaker-level) and the estimated CEFR level.

Below this you will see a full, in depth breakdown of the metrics used, as detailed above.

You can view this information in a user-friendly colour-coded format by clicking the ‘Open all’ button on the summary section if preferred.

Tips on using the Lexical Profile © & CEFR Score

When using the Lexical Profile © tool, you should remember the following:

– Lexical Profile © is only an estimate. You should not use it for any purpose without taking account of other factors.
– These measures are calculated using texts in English. This means they shouldn’t be treated as valid for texts in other languages.
– Currently, Lexical Profile © is based on analysis of student writing, reading and listening. Therefore you should exercise caution when using it to assess speaking data.
– The Lexical Profile © assesses only vocabulary and metadiscourse. To get a full idea of the difficulty of a text you must also take account of other aspects grammatical complexity, context of use, and so on.
– Lexical Profile © uses a limited number of measures to distinguish between CEFR levels. Therefore, don’t assume it is the whole story about the level of a text.
– When citing the Lexical Profile ©, you should report the number of measures which were used in the calculation and explain which ones were involved.

References:

– Savile, N. (2012) “The English Profile: Using Learner Data to Develop the CEFR for English” in Tono, Y., Y. Kawaguchi, M. Minegishi
– Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research John Benjamins Publishing, 2012 pp17-26