{ "seo": { "title": "CEFR Speaking Test: How Your Recording Is Assessed", "description": "How CEFRHub assesses a recording against the CEFR: what is scored and its weight, A1 to C2 with sub-levels, the report and a free first assessment." }, "filAriane": { "accueil": "Home", "page": "CEFR speaking assessment" }, "etiquette": "Speaking · CEFR assessment", "h1": "CEFR speaking test: how CEFRHub assesses your recording", "chapeau": "CEFRHub assesses a recording in French or English against the CEFR: three weighted marks (48%, 32% and 20%), one score band out of nine, from A1 to C2, then a report grounded in the descriptors, in under 3 minutes. Here is what is scored and how the score becomes a level.", "puces": [ "Three marks: pragmatic, linguistic, phonology", "Nine score bands, from A1 to C2, with sub-levels", "The same published grid for French and English", "First spoken assessment free, no credit card" ], "portee": "CEFRHub is an educational assessment aligned with the CEFR: it is neither an official exam nor a certification, and it is not a conversation partner. It assesses spoken production; it does not measure listening comprehension.", "boutons": { "essai": "Assess a recording for free", "exemple": "See a sample report" }, "garde": "Results are not accepted for any immigration, citizenship or admission process.", "rassure": "No credit card · Data stored and analyzed in Canada", "sommaire": "Questions on this page", "enBref": "In short", "questions": { "comment": { "q": "How does CEFRHub assess a recording?", "bref": "You record yourself on the spot or upload an audio file, monologue or exchange. The recording receives three marks out of 10, combined into a weighted average that falls into a score band; safeguards check the level boundary before the level and the report are awarded." }, "notes": { "q": "What is scored, and how much does each part weigh?", "bref": "Three marks: pragmatic competence (48% of the score), linguistic competence (32%) and phonological control (20%). Sociolinguistic competence (register, politeness, fit to the situation) is analyzed in the report, outside the score." }, "niveau": { "q": "How does the score become a CEFR level?", "bref": "The weighted average falls into one of the nine published bands, from A1 to C2. The score sets a band, not the level awarded: three safeguards can lower the computed result." }, "duree": { "q": "How long should you speak?", "bref": "From 30 to 45 seconds at A1 to 2 to 3 minutes at C2. A recording under 15 seconds is not assessed; with the free account, you can record up to 3 minutes." }, "rapport": { "q": "What does the report contain?", "bref": "The level and sub-level on the CEFR scale, a summary, an analysis of three competences with examples taken from the recording, pronunciation included, strengths, points to improve, recommendations and the next level." }, "cecr": { "q": "What does the CEFR say about spoken production?", "bref": "Six scales of the Companion volume cover oral production. CEFRHub's report draws on the descriptors of the CEFR and its Companion Volume, which it quotes." }, "enseignant": { "q": "What is the teacher's role?", "bref": "CEFRHub is for a first reading and low-stakes decisions: placing a learner in a group, tracking progress. It does not take the final decision: the teacher reviews what counts." }, "prix": { "q": "Is it free to assess a recording with CEFRHub?", "bref": "The first spoken assessment is free, once, with no credit card. After that, each spoken assessment uses one credit, from CA$5, or is included in a subscription." } }, "comment": { "etapes": [ "Choose speaking and the assessed language, French or English, then a target level to get a prompt at that level, or free production to speak on a topic of your choice.", "Record yourself on the spot, with the browser's microphone, or upload an audio file in MP3 or WAV format.", "Read the analysis, which arrives in under 3 minutes: the level and sub-level, the descriptors that apply to the recording, the strengths and what is left to work on." ], "assesses": "One production: a written text, or a spoken recording, monologue or exchange.", "chaine": "Behind it, the grid is published: three marks out of 10, a weighted average, a score band, safeguards at each level boundary, then the level and the report. An AI model reads the production and applies the grid published in the methodology: the scores, the weighting, the bands and the safeguards. The code computes the lexical measures and rejects a production that is too short; it does not recompute the level.", "lien": "Methodology: the full grid" }, "notes": { "legende": "The three marks of the score, in speech", "cols": [ "What is scored", "What is observed", "Weight" ], "lignes": [ [ "Pragmatic competence", "Organization of discourse, coherence, cohesion, effectiveness; in speech, managing the exchange", "48%" ], [ "Linguistic competence", "Range and accuracy of vocabulary and structures", "32%" ], [ "Phonological control", "Overall control, sound articulation and prosody", "20%" ], [ "Sociolinguistic competence", "Register, politeness, fit to the situation", "Analyzed in the report, outside the score" ] ], "formule": "Each dimension is scored from 1 to 10. The score is their weighted average: pragmatic × 0.48 + linguistic × 0.32 + phonology × 0.20.", "phonologie": "In the CEFR, orthographic and phonological control are part of linguistic competence. CEFRHub scores them separately because their weight differs: pronunciation weighs more on intelligibility in speech than spelling does on readability in writing.", "ponderation": "The CEFR prescribes no numerical weighting. This one is an operational reading of the Companion Volume's hierarchy, which positions pragmatic competence as superordinate.", "transcription": "A transcript of speech submitted as text is scored differently: pragmatic × 0.60 + linguistic × 0.40; spelling is not scored.", "lienEcrit": "CEFR writing level test: how your text is assessed" }, "niveau": { "legende": "The nine published bands, from A1 to C2", "cols": [ "Weighted score", "Level" ], "lignes": [ [ "2.5 – 3.4", "A1" ], [ "3.5 – 4.2", "A2.1" ], [ "4.3 – 4.9", "A2.2" ], [ "5.0 – 5.9", "B1.1" ], [ "6.0 – 6.7", "B1.2" ], [ "6.8 – 7.4", "B2.1" ], [ "7.5 – 8.2", "B2.2" ], [ "8.3 – 9.2", "C1" ], [ "9.3 – 10.0", "C2" ] ], "sousA1": "Below 2.5, the production does not yet allow A1 to be awarded; the report says so.", "gardeFousTitre": "Safeguards", "gardeFous": [ "Without at least two C1 markers attested in the production, a score of 8.3 or above is capped at B2.2.", "Strong spelling or pronunciation never on its own justifies a move to C1 — the CEFR's “range over accuracy” principle: accuracy without syntactic complexity stays B2.2.", "Each level boundary carries its own exclusion checklist, to be verified before the level is awarded." ], "sousNiveau": "In the CEFRHub assessment, the sub-level places your production within the level: .1, the level is reached; .2, it is consolidated and features of the next level are starting to appear, what the CEFR calls a “plus” level (A2+, B1+, B2+). A2, B1 and B2 have two sub-levels; A1, C1 and C2 have none." }, "duree": { "legende": "Expected duration by target level", "cols": [ "Target level", "Expected duration" ], "lignes": [ [ "A1", "30 to 45 seconds" ], [ "A2", "about 1 minute" ], [ "B1", "1 min 30 to 2 min 30" ], [ "B2", "2 to 3 minutes (preparation: 2 minutes)" ], [ "C1", "2 min to 2 min 30 (preparation: 3 minutes)" ], [ "C2", "2 to 3 minutes (preparation: 3 minutes)" ] ], "seuil": "A recording under 15 seconds is not assessed.", "plafond": "With the free account, you can record up to 3 minutes: the longest expected duration in the bank, 2 to 3 minutes, fits.", "limites": [ "The result is an educational diagnosis. A short recording, or one far from the task, gives fewer clues: the result is less certain.", "Near the boundary between two levels (e.g. B1/B2), the AI may under- or over-estimate the level.", "Record yourself somewhere quiet: background noise gets in the way of the analysis.", "A text read aloud or learned by heart does not show the same thing as spontaneous speech: the tool asks you for the production type to take this into account." ], "lien": "Speaking practice: one prompt per level" }, "rapport": { "contient": [ "The level detected and the sub-level (for example B2.2) on the CEFR scale.", "A summary of the production and of what places it at this level.", "The detailed analysis of three competences: linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, with examples taken from the production.", "Strengths, points to improve and recommendations.", "The next level and what it requires." ], "oral": "For a recording, linguistic competence includes the phonetic and phonological analysis (pronunciation, intelligibility).", "gratuit": "The free account gets a basic report (about 500 words) and a 2-page PDF summary; the full report in the sample corresponds to the paid plans.", "lien": "See a sample report, section by section" }, "cecr": { "intro": "Here, quoted from the Companion Volume, is what the overall oral production scale describes at B1, B2 and C1.", "citations": [ { "niveau": "B1", "texte": "Can reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within their field of interest, presenting it as a linear sequence of points.", "page": "p. 62" }, { "niveau": "B2", "texte": "Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on a wide range of subjects related to their field of interest, expanding and supporting ideas with subsidiary points and relevant examples.", "page": "p. 62" }, { "niveau": "C1", "texte": "Can give clear, detailed descriptions and presentations on complex subjects, integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion.", "page": "p. 62" } ], "attribution": "Quoted descriptors: © Council of Europe, 2020.", "source": { "texte": "Council of Europe — CEFR Companion volume, English edition, 2020 (PDF)", "url": "https://rm.coe.int/common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages-learning-teaching/16809ea0d4" }, "liens": [ "B1 to B2 Speaking: What the CEFR Describes", "B2 to C1 Speaking: What the CEFR Describes" ] }, "enseignant": { "usages": [ "A first reading in minutes, to free time for feedback and teaching.", "Low-stakes decisions: placing a learner in a group, tracking progress between two assessments.", "The same published method for every production, which makes it easier to compare a learner with themselves over time." ], "limites": [ "CEFRHub is not a certifying test: when an official result is required, the learner needs an official exam.", "CEFRHub does not take the final decision: the teacher reviews what counts.", "CEFRHub does not assess comprehension: it assesses written and spoken production." ], "lienEcoles": "English and French Placement Test for Schools" }, "prix": { "intro": "Free to start, no credit card: one spoken assessment offered once and one written assessment every 30 days. After that, credits with no subscription from CA$5 (1 credit = 1 assessment), or a subscription: Professional at CA$49/month (50 assessments), Power at CA$89/month (200 assessments), Expert at CA$179/month (unlimited assessments, under a fair-use policy: 50 analyses per day). 7-day money-back guarantee on the first subscription (full refund if 5 assessments or fewer); cancel anytime, with no cancellation fees. Plus applicable taxes.", "lien": "See pricing" }, "sourcesTitre": "Sources", "faq": { "titre": "Other questions", "items": [ { "q": "Does CEFRHub also assess speaking in English?", "r": "Yes. The same grid applies to French and English: only the markers looked for change, each specific to its language." }, { "q": "Do I need a microphone?", "r": "To record on the spot, yes: your browser asks for permission to use it. You can also upload an audio file instead." }, { "q": "Does my accent count?", "r": "In speaking, pronunciation is scored, but it does not set the level on its own: phonological control (overall control, sound articulation, prosody) counts for 20% of the score, against 48% for pragmatic competence and 32% for linguistic competence. Accuracy may still vary by accent." }, { "q": "Why can the level be lower than the score band?", "r": "The score sets a band, not the level awarded: safeguards can lower the computed result. For example: without at least two C1 markers attested in the production, a score of 8.3 or above is capped at B2.2." }, { "q": "Can I use my CEFRHub result for an official application?", "r": "No. CEFRHub is an educational assessment tool, not a certifying test: it does not replace an exam. Results are not accepted for any immigration, citizenship or admission process." } ] }, "auteur": { "prefixe": "Written by:", "nom": "CEFRHub Team", "lien": "About" }, "maj": "Last updated: {{date}}", "appel": { "titre": "Get a recording assessed against the CEFR", "texte": "First spoken assessment free, no credit card. Feedback in under 3 minutes." }, "essentiel": "At a glance", "lienMethodologie": "Methodology" }