The CEFR in Cuba: Alignment endeavours for English certification in Cuban higher education

We report CEFR alignment endeavours for the certification of English in Cuban higher education. In 2015, the Ministry of Higher Education (MES) introduced a new language policy, employing the CEFR as a proficiency framework, and setting CEFR level B1 as the exit standard. The MES wanted to introduce a CEFR-aligned certification system to teach and assess students’ English proficiency in order to achieve international recognition. We present achievements and outcomes from the project’s first phase, which encompassed a) familiarization and training for 42 representatives of all HE language centres in Cuba, b) developing test specifications and tasks by the trained representatives, c) piloting the tasks on a small scale, followed by d) standardization and benchmarking of local examples. All available information has been reported in a local handbook, and all data have been compiled in a database to support the piloting and the formal standard setting, which will be conducted in the second project phase, recently confirmed by the MES.