O’quv mashg’ulotining shakli

Difficulty levels – beyond the CEFR 

Because authentic video is such an accurate representation of actual language used in the real world, it brings with it comprehension considerations which go beyond those outlined in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), such as vocabulary, grammatical forms, subject matter, and context. 

Most of these considerations have to do with the manner of speech featured in the video. Fast-paced speech, for example, will obviously present more of a comprehension challenge than a normal pace of delivery. Dialogue rich in jargon and slang will be more difficult to understand than textbook English. Heavily accented English – such as a Scottish burr or a marked Southern U.S. drawl – will be harder to follow than Received Pronunciation English or Midwestern U.S. variants. However, these challenges are insufficient reasons to exclude video with this type of speech, as learners will no doubt encounter similar speech later on in real life and will not achieve true mastery of the language without being able to negotiate meaning in these situations. Furthermore, ambient factors in the authentic video – whether the sound track is clear and distinct from background noises, the recorded sound volume, and overlapping speech from the different participants in a dialogue – need to be considered when establishing the difficulty level of the video. 

Obviously, it is very difficult – and would be extremely time-consuming – for teachers to take all these elements into consideration when selecting authentic video to use with learners. Fortunately, a good online TEFL resource featuring authentic video will do that work for the teacher, categorizing clips according to difficulty scales (CEFR and/or others) while factoring in the additional considerations mentioned above.