ABSTRACT
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), drawn up under the auspices of a prestigious European-level organization such as the Council of Europe and adopted by the European Commission itself in its language policies. Its descriptors of communicative language competence have become the most important reference document in the fields of language learning, teaching, and assessment, both in Europe and beyond. Shohamy claimed that: Language tests should mediate ideologies and practices in more open, democratic and negotiable ways, and prevent the use of tests as powerful mechanisms capable of imposing draconic policies that have no empirical base. The consequences of the implicational link between the CEFR and its standards and tests become more evident and problematic when tests are used as a gatekeeper against immigrants. An accountable framework such as the CEFR, with its proficiency descriptors, is now embedded in policy processes, and it is only through policy processes that it can be challenged or updated.
