CEFR Mediation Strategies and Activities 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In the CEFR mediation framework, which activity involves a user producing a written summary of a spoken debate for absent colleagues?
- Facilitating collaborative interaction
- Relaying specific information in writing from spoken input (Correct answer)
- Translating a formal document
- Mediating a concept through visuals
Correct answer: Relaying specific information in writing from spoken input
Relaying specific information in writing from spoken input covers tasks where spoken content (e.g., a debate) is transformed into a written record for others.
Question 2: What is 'plurilingual mediation' in the CEFR framework?
- Using only one language to explain concepts to monolingual learners
- Drawing on a repertoire of languages to facilitate communication across linguistic boundaries (Correct answer)
- Teaching multiple languages simultaneously in a single classroom
- Translating official documents into more than two languages
Correct answer: Drawing on a repertoire of languages to facilitate communication across linguistic boundaries
Plurilingual mediation involves leveraging one's full multilingual repertoire to bridge communication across different language communities.
Question 3: Which CEFR mediation strategy involves a mediator explicitly naming the communication difficulty before attempting to resolve it?
- Scaffolding
- Flagging a communication breakdown (Correct answer)
- Code-switching
- Expanding the source text
Correct answer: Flagging a communication breakdown
Flagging a communication breakdown means making the problem visible to participants before working toward resolution.
Question 4: A student reads two conflicting news articles and writes a synthesis explaining both perspectives. Which CEFR mediation activity is this?
- Bridging between languages
- Processing and synthesising multiple texts (Correct answer)
- Consecutive interpreting
- Facilitating a live negotiation
Correct answer: Processing and synthesising multiple texts
Processing and synthesising multiple texts involves integrating information from several sources into a coherent new text.
Question 5: Which phrase best describes the CEFR concept of 'scaffolding' within mediation?
- Correcting grammatical errors in a peer's writing
- Providing structured support that enables a less proficient user to accomplish a communicative task (Correct answer)
- Translating idioms into culturally equivalent expressions
- Summarising a text by removing redundant sentences
Correct answer: Providing structured support that enables a less proficient user to accomplish a communicative task
Scaffolding means offering targeted, temporary support so a less skilled communicator can participate in a task they could not manage independently.
Question 6: When mediating cultural concepts, a CEFR user at C1 level is expected to:
- Avoid any cultural references to prevent misunderstanding
- Explain culturally specific phenomena by providing contextual background and analogies (Correct answer)
- Simply translate the concept word-for-word and let listeners interpret it
- Ask a native speaker to handle all cultural explanations
Correct answer: Explain culturally specific phenomena by providing contextual background and analogies
At C1, mediating cultural concepts involves providing sufficient context and analogies so that culturally unfamiliar ideas become accessible to the audience.
Question 7: In CEFR terms, 'collaborative mediation' is distinguished from individual mediation because it:
- Requires two professional interpreters working in tandem
- Involves a group jointly constructing shared meaning rather than one person relaying information (Correct answer)
- Focuses exclusively on written texts rather than spoken discourse
- Is limited to formal academic or legal settings
Correct answer: Involves a group jointly constructing shared meaning rather than one person relaying information
Collaborative mediation in CEFR refers to group processes where participants jointly build understanding, as opposed to a single mediator acting alone.
CEFR Mediation Strategies and Activities 5
In the CEFR mediation framework, which activity involves a user producing a written summary of a spoken debate for absent colleagues?