Mediation and the CEFR: defining agency
Languages are commonly considered as a dynamic organism that changes in multiple ways over time. As we have
seen in class, language has been initially considered as merely code which individuals would have to learn in
order to use the language. Nowadays, languages are much more complex and are seen as flexible and open to
various interpretations. Rather than giving importance to form, today we give importance to meaning. According to
Piccardo (2023), “ language is thus seen not as a collection of interchangeable labels to be applied to objects and
concepts, but rather as emerging from complex webs of actions, which all require some form of mediation”
(Piccardo, 2023, p. 2).
Mediation, introduced in 2001, is one of the four modes in which the CEFR model has organized communication
which leads astray from a reductionist view of language as form and code. Piccardo states that mediation entails
that the classroom is not the only space in which individuals can gather linguistic knowledge and that many places
outside this ‘bubble’ can provide “natural settings for mediation” (Piccardo, 2023, p. 2). Although the CEFR 2001
did not elaborate too much on this concept, it is possible to understand how the action-oriented approach was
already taking form by stating that co-constructing meaning through interaction was essential.
Through the CEFR Companion Volume 2020, I can understand how the concept evolved, valuing a relation
between interlocutors or between individuals and society in which ‘agency’ was the key word and where there
were no cultural or linguistic barriers. The definition reads as follows:
In mediation, the user/learner acts as a social agent who creates bridges and helps to construct or convey meaning,
sometimes within the same language, sometimes across modalities (e.g. from spoken to signed or vice versa, in
cross-modal communication) and sometimes from one language to another (cross-linguistic mediation). The focus is
on the role of language in processes like creating the space and conditions for communicating and/or learning,
collaborating to construct new meaning, encouraging others to construct or understand new meaning, and passing
on new information in an appropriate form. The context can be social, pedagogic, cultural, linguistic or professional
(Council of Europe, 2020, p. 90).
Essentially, we should consider language interaction not from the ‘inside out’ but from the ‘outside in’, which
means that only through the mediated interactions that an individual goes through in a social context can he/she
then interiorize what he/she may have gained of linguistic knowledge. According to Piccardo and North,
“language is thus simultaneously a working tool to make sense of our surroundings, a vehicle for acquiring new
knowledge through the construction of meaning, and object of leaning in the language classroom, and a support
for the process of reflection” (Piccardo & North, n.p.).
Overall, through mediation I can conclude that significant advances have been made to understand better how
language works and how it should be considered a process. This concept allows teachers to develop a new
perspective and course of action in their classrooms by promoting an open, interdependent and experimental
environment with their learners.
Mediation tasks occur in three categories:
1. Mediating texts:
a. translating a written text;
b. note-taking;
c. analysis of creative texts.
2. Mediating concepts:
a. encouraging conceptual talk (brainstorming for example);
b. collaborating with peers to construct meaning;
3. Mediating communication:
a. acting as an intermediary;
b. facilitating pluricultural spaces;
c. helping with communication in situations of disagreement or of delicate topics.
References
Council of Europe (2001), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Council of Europe (2020), Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion volume, Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
Piccardo, E. (2023), Mediation and the plurilingual/pluricultural dimension in language education. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto.
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