Mediating Communication: the Official CEFR Descriptors from B1 to B2
Mediating communication is one of the three mediation families described in the CEFR Companion Volume (2020): facilitating understanding and exchange between interlocutors who, for linguistic, cultural, social or emotional reasons, cannot understand each other directly. It is as much a relational skill as a linguistic one: defusing a misunderstanding, managing tension, creating a climate conducive to exchange.
At B1, you facilitate a simple exchange between two people on familiar subjects, with limited support. At B2, you handle more delicate situations — a disagreement, a difference in perspective — by rephrasing to clarify and adapting what you say to both parties. This page reproduces every official descriptor for this activity at B1, B1+ and B2, scale by scale.
The official descriptors, scale by scale
3 Companion Volume scales cover mediating communication between B1 and B2. For each one, the B1 and B2 descriptors are shown side by side; where the CEFR publishes B1+ descriptors, they appear in the amber transition band.
Facilitating pluricultural space
B1 — independent user
Can support an intercultural exchange using a limited repertoire to introduce people from different cultural backgrounds and to ask and answer questions, showing awareness that some questions may be perceived differently in the cultures concerned.
Can help develop a shared communication culture, by exchanging information in a simple way about values and attitudes to language and culture.
B2 — independent user
Can encourage a shared communication culture by expressing understanding and appreciation of different ideas, feelings and viewpoints, and inviting participants to contribute and react to each other’s ideas.
Can work collaboratively with people who have different cultural orientations, discussing similarities and differences in views and perspectives.
Can, when collaborating with people from other cultures, adapt the way they work in order to create shared procedures.
B1+ — transition zone
Can support communication across cultures by initiating conversation, showing interest and empathy by asking and answering simple questions, and expressing agreement and understanding.
Can act in a supportive manner in intercultural encounters, recognising the feelings and different worldviews of other members of the group.
Facilitating communication in delicate situations and disagreements
B1 — independent user
Can demonstrate their understanding of the key issues in a disagreement on a topic familiar to them and make simple requests for confirmation and/or clarification.
B2 — independent user
Can, by asking questions, identify areas of common ground and invite each side to highlight possible solutions.
Can outline the main points in a disagreement with reasonable precision and explain the positions of the parties involved.
Can summarise the statements made by the two sides, highlighting areas of agreement and obstacles to agreement.
B1+ — transition zone
Can ask parties in a disagreement to explain their point of view, and can respond briefly to their explanations, provided the topic is familiar to them and the parties express themselves clearly.
Acting as an intermediary in informal situations (with friends and colleagues)
B1 — independent user
Can communicate (in Language B) the main sense of what is said (in Language A) on subjects of personal interest, while following important politeness conventions, provided the interlocutors articulate clearly and they can ask for clarification and pause to plan how to express things.
B2 — independent user
Can communicate (in Language B) the sense of what is said in a welcome address, anecdote or presentation in their field (given in Language A), interpreting cultural cues appropriately and giving additional explanations when necessary, provided the presenter stops frequently in order to allow time for them to do so.
Can communicate (in Language B) the sense of what is said (in Language A) on subjects within their fields of interest, conveying and when necessary explaining the significance of important statements and viewpoints, provided the interlocutors give clarifications if needed.
B1+ — transition zone
Can communicate (in Language B) the main sense of what is said (in Language A) on subjects within their fields of interest, conveying straightforward factual information and explicit cultural references, provided they can prepare beforehand and that the interlocutors articulate clearly in everyday language.
The Examiner's Perspective
Réda Haiat — CEFR Assessment Expert · 22 Years of Experience
Mediating communication is the least linguistic of the seven activities: it's about making an exchange work between people separated by language or culture. At B1, the mediator passes on what's said and flags what's obvious. At B2, they anticipate misunderstandings before they happen, and act on the relationship as much as on the content.
The difference lies in awareness of what's at stake beyond the words. A B1 mediator translates an ambiguous sentence; a B2 mediator senses that the ambiguity is cultural, spells it out for both parties, and offers a phrasing that preserves everyone's face. The B2 descriptors talk about facilitating, defusing, creating common ground — social operations, not just linguistic ones.
B1+ notices friction but reacts after the fact. They catch a misunderstanding once it's already set in, rather than preventing it. That's the difference between repairing and preventing.
What I listen for at the boundary
- Does the mediator anticipate misunderstandings, or repair them after the fact?
- Do they act on the relationship between the parties, or only on the content?
- Do they pick up on implicit cultural differences, or handle only the words?
- Does their rephrasing preserve everyone's face?
- Do they create the conditions for agreement, or just relay each side's position?
Frequently asked questions
How many official descriptors cover mediating communication between B1 and B2?
16 official descriptors cover this zone: 4 at B1, 4 at B1+ and 8 at B2, spread across 3 scales. All of them are reproduced on this page.
What does the B1+ level mean?
B1+ is a CEFR "plus level": it describes a strong B1 competence, beyond the B1 threshold but not yet meeting the B2 criteria. The Companion Volume publishes specific descriptors for these intermediate bands — that is the transition zone shown between the B1 and B2 columns.
Can I reuse these descriptors?
Yes. The CEFR descriptors are published by the Council of Europe under the CC BY 4.0 licence: you may reproduce and adapt them, including commercially, provided you credit the Council of Europe. That is exactly what this page does.
Going further
Sources
- Council of Europe — CEFR Companion Volume (2020): https://rm.coe.int/cefr-companion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/1680787989
- The CEFR on the Council of Europe website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/