Perspectives from Japan

Abstract

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was translated into Japanese by foreign language education specialists Shigeru Yoshijima (a specialist in German), Rie Ohashi (a specialist in English) and other members of a multilingual team in 2004, and was published with the support of the Goethe-Institut Japan.1 The translation was received with interest in foreign language education circles in Japan, and was the subject of discussion at a number of national conferences, including the Japan Association of College English Teachers (2005), the Asociación Japonesa de Hispanistas (2007), the Japanische Gesellschaft für Germanistik (2008), the Société Japonaise de Didactique du Français (2009) and the Japan Association for Language Policy (2009). Specialists on the CEFR, including a representative of the secretariat of the Council of Europe, were invited to several of these conferences.