Investigating Pre-Service English Teachers’ Understanding and Practices of CEFR in English Language Teaching

Abstract

This study investigated pre-service English teachers’ understanding and perceptions of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) within the Malaysian teacher education context. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed, beginning with a questionnaire administered to 54 pre-service pre-service English teachers in a Malaysian teacher training institution, followed by semi-structured interviews with five randomly selected participants.  Findings revealed that pre-service teachers recognised CEFR as a global framework for describing language proficiency and aligning teaching, learning and assessment with international standards. Taken together, these findings suggest that while in-service teachers conceptually endorse the CEFR and its descriptors, implementation challenges remain underexplored or underacknowledged in their narratives. The positive perceptions highlight the perceived potential of CEFR for improving teaching, but the negative insights point to risks of over-standardisation, checklist-oriented teaching and insufficient localisation. Addressing these gaps requires professional development that emphasises the critical use of the CEFR, encourages teachers to adapt global standards to local cultural contexts and provides structured support for overcoming practical barriers in the classroom.