L.S.
This is a bloom related question. As we are embarking on the creation of digital books in bloom, we sense a need to organise the books according to level of difficulty. The European union has a standard called CECR for the level of reading skills of readers (Not of books). See the link here Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues (niveaux CECR) | LanguageCert
From what I gather, difficulty levels of books are linked to this standard. So a book of level A1 is meant for readers who have a reading skill level of A1.
At the site mentioned above it says for example for A2:
- Est capable de comprendre les phrases et le vocabulaire à la fréquence la plus élevée en lien avec les domaines les plus pertinents sur le plan personnel, tels que les informations personnelles et familiales de base, les achats, la zone locale et l’emploi.
- Est capable de saisir le point principal par le biais de messages et d’annonces courts, clairs et simples.
- Est capable de lire et de comprendre des textes très courts et simples tels que des lettres personnelles.
- Est capable de trouver des informations spécifiques et prévisibles dans des documents simples du quotidien tels que des publicités, des prospectus, des menus et des horaires.
So this gives us some guidelines to help us classify a book as “meant for A1” or “meant for A2”. However, in the context of West Africa, I have heard there is A1+ and A2- etc, so adding criteria, or really another two or three levels altogether.
My question is, do you have experience in the classification of your books you can share? Meaning, do you use guidelines that help you determine between A1, A1+, A2-, A2 and A2+ ? Is there SIL literature available on this topic?
It is all about not re-inventing the wheel. So any guidance you can share is greatly appreciated.