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The JALT CEFR & LP SIG is supporting teacher-researchers through a collaborative Kaken research project entitled “Language Education reform using action research: Putting CEFR’s educational principles into practice” since 2020. During the Forum, project participants will reflect on their research projects they conducted so far using the CEFR-focused Action Research Model (CARM) developed by the SIG. The SIG Forum will be an opportunity to discuss examples from researchers’ intermediate outcomes in relation to the CARM model (= AR / CEFR aspects) as good model case studies. Forum participants are encouraged to engage and reflect on their current practice and consider how the CEFR and CARM might be utilized in their own contexts. The Forum will conclude with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the CARM model and the goals for the final year of the KAKEN project. The Forum is open to everyone interested in intending to conduct research in the field of foreign language teaching and learning especially using Action Research and/or the CEFR – CEFR CV as a tool. The Forum intends to foster sharing and peer-learning.

Since the publication of the CEFR in 2001, policymakers, researchers and teachers in foreign language education around the world have started to use the framework to review their own systems and practices. This includes the structure and content of language syllabuses, textbooks and teaching materials, as well as instructional and assessment methods. The publication of the Companion Volume (CEFR/CV) in 2020 will further concretise the principles of the CEFR and re-propose a new framework for language teaching, including sign languages, mediation skills and online communication. The application of the CEFR, with its extremely broad scope, can sometimes be a hindrance to a sound understanding of its principles and fundamental concepts, which can lead to applications based on superficial knowledge. It is also true that it is difficult to implement language education policies that cover the full range of the CEFR.

In this talk, I will give an overview of the CEFR and the CEFR/CV and discuss the implications of using the CEFR as a common framework for all languages. As an example of focused applications, I will argue what the future of intelligent CALL based on the selection and arrangement of language materials by the CEFR levels would be like. Finally, as Principal Investigator of the CEFR-J, a localization project of the CEFR in Japan, I would like to consider what is needed for the CEFR to truly take root in foreign language education in Japan.

The first part of this panel discussion is dedicated to a review of theories of fluency development, including ACT theory, Instance Theory, and Verbal Efficiency Theory, how these theories apply to extensive reading, and the potential limitations of extensive reading where reading fluency development is concerned. The second part focuses on how reading fluency improvement can be encouraged and monitored in the EFL classroom via extensive reading as well as silent and oral fluency training activities. The results of a study comparing the effects of an intensive reading approach and an extensive reading (with added fluency training) approach on various measures of reading fluency will be presented and discussed. In addition, there will be a discussion about how reading fluency can be enhanced when extensive reading is combined with timed reading, repeated oral reading, and chunking activities among L2 English Japanese university learners. The changes in their cognitive processes used for reading, oral reading fluency scores, and L2 reading self-efficacy will also be examined. Qualitative data regarding these reading activities will also be shared.