Examining the difficulty pathways of can-do statements from a localized version of the CEFR

The Japanese adaptation of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR-J) is a tailored version of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), designed to better meet the needs of Japanese learners of English. The CEFR-J, like the CEFR, uses illustrative  descriptors  known  as  can-do  statements,  that  describe  achievement  goals  for five  skills  (listening,  reading,  spoken  production,  spoken  interaction  and  writing)  across twelve levels instead of the CEFR’s original six. The goal of the present analysis is to provide  validity  evidence  in  support  of  the  inherent  difficulty  hierarchy  within  the  5  A level sub-categories (A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A2.1 and A2.2) in two ways: 1) by testing whether the difficulty of the  can-do statements  for each  skill increases  with the levels, and 2) by determining if there are significant differences in difficulty ratings between each level. It was found that for most skills, the rank ordering from difficulty ratings made by Japanese university  students  somewhat  matched  the  level  hierarchy  of  the  CEFR-J  but  that significant differences between many adjacent levels were not found. The localization of a general framework for use by a specific population of users and the limitations related to using a system of can-dos that is derived from estimates of difficulty are discussed.