Using materials labelled A2, B1 or B2 does not automatically mean that we are teaching at that level. Teachers need to ensure that their explanations, questions, activities and expectations are appropriate to the students’ level.

The CEFR should be understood primarily in terms of what learners can do with the language, rather than simply which grammar points they have studied.

Know what is expected at each level

Teachers should be familiar with the general abilities expected at the level they teach.

For example, expectations should progressively increase:

A1–A2: short and relatively simple communication about familiar situations.

B1: students should be able to communicate with increasing independence, give reasons, describe experiences and maintain straightforward interaction.

B2: students should produce more detailed and developed language, justify opinions, compare alternatives and interact with greater fluency and independence.

C1: students should handle complex ideas, express themselves flexibly and precisely and use a wider range of structures and vocabulary.

For Cambridge preparation groups, teachers should also know the assessment criteria and task requirements of the corresponding examination.

Adapt your teacher language

Teacher language should be understandable but should not be unnecessarily simplified.

Students need exposure to language slightly beyond what they can currently produce, provided that context, examples, gestures or clarification make it comprehensible.

For lower levels:

“Work with your partner. Ask three questions. You have four minutes.”

For higher levels, instructions and classroom interaction can naturally become more sophisticated.

However, higher level does not mean longer explanations. Instructions should remain clear and efficient at every level.

Increase the quality of the questions

One of the easiest ways to adjust difficulty is through the questions we ask.

Compare:

A2:

Where did you go on holiday?

B1:

What was the best part of your holiday and why?

B2:

Do you think travelling abroad changes the way people see their own culture? Why?

C1:

To what extent can travelling contribute to challenging cultural stereotypes?

The topic can remain the same while the cognitive and linguistic demands increase.

Expect level-appropriate answers

Do not accept the same quality of response from every level.

For example:

Teacher: “What do you think about working from home?”
B2 student: “It’s good.”

The answer may be grammatically correct, but it does not demonstrate much B2 ability.

Encourage the student to develop it:

“Why?”
“Can you give me an example?”
“What might be a disadvantage?”
“Can you compare it with working in an office?”

Teachers should continuously encourage students to produce language that reflects their current level.

Provide the right amount of support

Students need support, but support should gradually decrease as competence increases.

Possible support includes:

• model answers;

• sentence starters;

• useful vocabulary;

• visual prompts;

• examples;

• guided questions;

• planning time.

A beginner may need:

I prefer ___ because ___.

A B2 student should normally be able to express the same idea without that degree of scaffolding.

Giving too little support can make a task inaccessible. Giving too much support can prevent students from developing independence.

Use appropriate vocabulary and grammar

Teachers should actively encourage students to use the language expected at their level.

If students continually rely on language from previous levels, provide alternatives and encourage upgrading.

For example:

“It was very good.”

could become:

“It was really enjoyable.”
“I was particularly impressed by…”
“What I liked most was…”

However, avoid teaching complicated expressions simply because they sound advanced. Language should be natural, useful and appropriate to the communicative situation.

Adjust the challenge, not just the material

The same resource can often be used at different levels by changing the task.

For example, using the same photograph:

A1: Name five objects.

A2: Describe what the people are doing.

B1: Explain what you think has happened.

B2: Compare possible explanations and justify your opinion.

C1: Discuss the wider issue suggested by the image and evaluate different perspectives.

Therefore, adapting a lesson does not necessarily require creating completely different materials. Often, changing what students are required to do with the material changes the level of the activity.

Avoid two common extremes

Making everything too easy:
Students complete activities successfully but are rarely challenged to extend their language.

Making everything unnecessarily difficult:
Teachers introduce sophisticated vocabulary or complex grammar because they believe this automatically represents a higher level.

Neither approach is effective.

The aim is to work at a level that students can access while still providing appropriate challenge and opportunities for progression.

Remember

When planning and teaching, ask yourself:

Is this what students at this level should be able to understand and produce?

The coursebook provides an important framework, but the teacher is responsible for maintaining the appropriate level of challenge throughout the lesson.

Final Activity: Understanding the Difference Between Levels

One of the best ways to understand the differences between CEFR levels is to analyse real examples of the language expected at each stage.

In the linked resources, you will find a series of tables containing example sentences for each level. Each sentence has been carefully designed to illustrate a particular grammatical or lexical objective students are expected to acquire at that level.

Step 1. Analyse the examples

Open the document corresponding to one level and read the example sentences.

In the first examples, the target language is identified for you. Look carefully at the sentence and try to understand why that particular example represents that level.

For example:

If I had more free time, I would learn another language.

Target: Second Conditional – hypothetical situations.

Step 2. Identify the target yourself

As you continue through the document, the explanations disappear.

Your task is to identify:

What is this sentence actually teaching or demonstrating?

Look for grammar, vocabulary, collocations, sentence patterns or other features characteristic of the level.

This is the same type of guided discovery we want teachers to use with students: first provide support and examples, then gradually remove that support.

Step 3. Compare levels

Explore the tables from the levels immediately below and above the one you teach.

Pay attention to how language develops:

What should my students already know? → What should they learn now? → What will they learn next?

This comparison helps establish the linguistic range within which your lessons should operate.

Step 4. Create your own poster

Choose a selection of the grammatical and lexical objectives from your level and create your own level poster.

For each objective:

1. Identify the grammatical or lexical target.

2. Create a new example sentence.

3. Make sure your sentence preserves the same linguistic objective and level of difficulty as the original.

Do not simply change one word:

Original: If I had more money, I would travel more.
If I had more time, I would travel more.
If I lived near the sea, I would go swimming every morning.

The objective is to demonstrate that you understand the underlying language, not that you can reproduce the example.

By the end of the activity, you should be able to look at a sentence and ask yourself:

“What is the teaching objective here, and is it appropriate for the level I am teaching?”