The main instrument of the policies of multilingualism and multiculturalism in Europe: the Common European Frameworkof Reference and the European Language Portfolio

The paper is devoted to the main instruments of the realization of the Council of Europe and the European Union language policies directed to the construction of a multilingual and multicultural society in Europe: the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP). The development of the CEFR became possible on the basis of research work initiated with the introduction of the Threshold Level conception, which resulted in the creation in late 20 century of a system of proficiency levels in languages, whose chief aim was to provide a method of teaching and learning assessment applicable to all European languages. Adopting the universally recognized standards in language teaching and learning on the basis of the CEFR has allowed to remove obstacles to academic and professional mobility due to the incompatibility of diplomas and other educational documents. The paper presents an analysis of the structure of the CEFR, consisting of four main sections, including a description of parameters and categories required for the presentation of language learning acts, and competencies for performing communicative acts. Other sections include a review of approaches to language learning and teaching and a scale for the description of a system of language proficiency levels. The most important part of the CEFR is the section devoted to the system of language proficiency levels, for whose description specific descriptors of knowledge and skills are proposed in reading, listening, com prehension, speaking and writing. The adoption of the CEFR has to a large degree ensured the success of the Council of Europe's language policy, directed towards supporting linguistic diversity and provided the national systems of education with an effective instrument for a reform of the language education with the aim to achieve individual multilingualism. Next, the paper considers another instrument developed by experts of the Council of Europe for controlling the levels of language knowledge and skills - the European Language Portfolio. The idea of the ELP reflects the position of the Council of Europe in relation to linguistic and cultural diversity, which is based on the conception of plurilingualism. The plurilingual approach to individual multilingualism allows registering all the language experience of an individual, and does not demand that the mastery in one or more foreign languages is achieved. Instead, the aim is to develop a linguistic repertory that includes all language skills. Individual plurilingual competence is registered in the Language Portfolio by including not only the results of formal education and personal assessment of language proficiency levels on the basis of CEFR, but also a language biography and a dossier, containing samples of personal work in the field of languages and cultures. Summing up, a conclusion is made in the paper that with the growth of acceptance and recognition of the Common European Framework of Reference and the Language Portfolio as effective instruments providing mutual recognition of educational qualifications, a change takes place in the direction of accepting the CEFR as a standard for providing multilingual and multicultural education in Europe.

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