THOUESNY, S., JAGER, S., BRADLEY, L. & MEIMA, E. J.,
If teachers of Less-Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs), such as Irish,
are to make use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) and many other CALL tools,
then there must be an appropriate adaptation of the Common European Framework
of Reference (CEFR) in that LCTL. The need to be “Bologna-compliant” has seen
language courses and syllabuses in Ireland being set out according to Common
Reference Levels of the CEFR. Many CALL tools and resources which have been
developed in a European context are underpinned by the Common Reference Levels
of the CEFR. This symbiosis means that, in many cases, making use of one cannot be
done properly without due regard to the other. In Ireland, however, the applications
of the CEFR and integration of CALL have been engaged in separately for the
most part. As the demand for CALL grows in Ireland, the lack of an Irish language
adaptation of the CEFR becomes more problematic. This paper presents a case study
on the Irish language partner on the SpeakApps project (http://www.speakapps.eu/).
It will begin with a brief literature review on implementing CALL principles in
LCTLs, and application of the CEFR to LCTLs. It then examines the experiences of
the Irish partner in designing online oral production and interaction tasks according
to the CEFR to be used on language courses that have not previously used CEFR
learning goals or reference levels. In this paper we conclude that adaptations of the
CEFR’s Common Reference Levels with clear illustrative descriptors are needed
before teachers of LCTLs can optimise OERs and other CALL tools.