From language proficiency to disciplinary meaning-making: the new role of CEFR in CLIL and multilingual education

Abstract

This article highlights the evolving role of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and multilingual education, shifting its focus from general language proficiency to disciplinary meaning-making. Drawing on the CEFR Companion Volume’s emphasis on plurilingual competence, the article argues for the development of discipline-specific descriptors that reflect how knowledge is constructed and communicated in school subjects in bi/multilingual educational contexts. Central to this effort is the integration of Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDFs), which provide a bridge between language and content by identifying communicative intentions such as defining, explaining, and evaluating. The article synthesizes contributions from studies in Science, History, and Mathematics that apply CEFR-aligned CDF descriptors and situates them within the multidimensional framework of bi/multilingual disciplinary literacies (BMDLs). Findings highlight the importance of multimodal, multilingual, and interactional resources in disciplinary learning, as well as the need for explicit instruction in disciplinary discourse. The article outlines theoretical advances in understanding disciplinary literacy as multidimensional and function-specific, alongside pedagogical implications for assessment, curriculum design, and teacher education. It concludes by identifying challenges related to descriptor refinement, scalability, and contextual sensitivity, and calls for continued interdisciplinary collaboration to support equitable multilingual education.