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The influence of CEFR in South Korea’s 2022 National English Curriculum: A focus on grammar
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 September 2025
Abstract
While the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages was originally developed for the European context, its influence has extended to other regions. The present paper highlights this growing influence by reporting on revisions to grammar in South Korea’s National English Curriculum based on CEFR criteria and the related CEFR-based English Grammar Profile resource. Specifically focusing on Appendix 4 of the 2015 curriculum, which consists of example sentences of language forms for communication (e.g. Kate is from London), the revising process based on CEFR and the English Grammar Profile involved two steps: 1) adding grammatical categories for the example sentences, and 2) reorganizing the school level where the grammatical categories are recommended to be taught. The resulting changes were implemented in the 2022 Korean National English Curriculum, which began being applied nationwide to English education in 2024.
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