Skip to main content

View related sites

  • Recognition
  • Agents
  • Consultancy
  • Research
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
Change Language

Cambridge Assessment English

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Why choose us?

    Why choose us?

    • Learners

    • Who accepts our exams?
    • Visas and immigration
    • Study abroad
    • Cambridge English journeys
    • Organisations

    • Start accepting our exams
    • Working with us
    • Producing exams
  • Exams and tests

    Exams and tests

    • Cambridge English Qualifications Cambridge English Qualifications
    • Schools
    • General and higher education
    • Business
    • Pre A1 Starters (YLE Starters)
    • A1 Movers (YLE Movers)
    • A2 Flyers (YLE Flyers)
    • A2 Key for Schools (KET)
    • B1 Preliminary for Schools (PET)
    • B2 First for Schools (FCE)
    • A2 Key (KET)
    • B1 Preliminary (PET)
    • B2 First (FCE)
    • C1 Advanced (CAE)
    • C2 Proficiency (CPE)
    • B1 Business Preliminary (BEC Preliminary)
    • B2 Business Vantage (BEC Vantage)
    • C1 Business Higher (BEC Higher)
    • Linguaskill Linguaskill
    • IELTS IELTS
    • OET OET
    • Useful links

    • Test your English
    • Cambridge English Placement Test
    • How to register
    • Find an exam centre
    • What to expect on exam day
    • Study English in the UK
    • See exam results online
    • Cambridge English Scale
    • International language standards explained
    • Information for preparation centres
  • Learning English

    Learning English

    • Free activities
    • Exam preparation
    • Test your English
    • Parents and children
    • Games and social media
    • More resources
  • Teaching English

    Teaching English

    • Qualifications for individuals
    • CELTA
    • DELTA
    • TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test)
    • Qualifications for schools and ministries
    • CELT-P
    • CELT-S
    • Language for Teaching
    • Certificate in EMI Skills
    • Train the Trainer
    • Professional development
    • Cambridge English Teaching Framework
    • Cambridge English Trainer Framework
    • Become a Cambridge English Assessment Specialist
    • Your new English classroom
    • Resources for teachers
    • Webinars for teachers
    • Information for preparation centres
  • Blog
  • News
  • Events
  • Help

    Help

    • Lost certificates
    • Enquiries and appeals
    • Special requirements
    • Special considerations
    • Malpractice
    • Complaints
    • Corporate social responsibility
  • Test your English
  • Find an exam centre
  • Who accepts our exams?

You are here:

  1. Cambridge English
  2. Research and Validation
  3. Research and collaboration

Research and collaboration

  • Research and Validation
    • Fitness for purpose
    • Research and collaboration
    • Quality and accountability
    • Validity and validation
    • Published research
    • About language testing
    • Meet the team
    • Interviews

Research Notes

Issue 78 September 2020

Research Notes 78 - Cover image

This issue defines and discusses plurilingualism, reflecting on approaches to the concept by Cambridge English and three case studies from institutions involved in the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).

Download Issue 78

Related Links

  • Funding application
  • Requests for data
  • Grade statistics
  • Research Notes
  • Studies in Language Testing (SiLT)
  • Meet the team

Working with other researchers

Research carried out by others is an invaluable source of independent information about our exams, and we actively work with other researchers. Our Funded Research Programme and IELTS-funded research offer funding for those undertaking postdoctoral research about our exams or other aspects of validity and impact within language learning and assessment.

Working together, sharing our expertise

Developing, administering and validating our exams brings us into collaboration with a wide range of different individuals, groups and institutions, including:

  • test takers
  • teachers
  • universities
  • educational publishers
  • major commercial organisations
  • local, regional and national government bodies.

Additionally, we work closely with our own international network of centres, examiners and materials writers.

Working together with all of these groups is important to the development of our exams, but as a not-for-profit organisation we also have a responsibility to contribute to the wider world of education and assessment. A number of our key collaborations are with organisations such as the Council of Europe, ALTE, SurveyLang and English Profile that are involved in the research and further development of international standards and benchmarks for language learning, teaching and assessment.

English Profile – developing the CEFR for English

Cambridge Assessment English is one of the key partners in the English Profile programme, which is further developing the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

English Profile will deliver the CEFR for English – detailed descriptions of what English learners can be expected to know at each CEFR level.

More about English Profile

Cambridge English Funded Research Programme

Under the Funded Research Programme we provide funding for research projects related to our exams and teaching qualifications. For full information and instructions, see our Support Site.

IELTS joint-funded research programme

Educational institutions and suitably qualified individuals are invited to apply for funding to undertake applied research projects in relation to the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). Financial support for individual projects selected will in principle be limited to a maximum of UK£45,000/AUD$70,000.

Click here to find out how to apply

Requests for data

Please see Requests for data or materials for academic research.

Profiling English in China: The Pearl River Delta

In Profiling English in China: The Pearl River Delta, David Graddol explores the changing status of the English language in a part of China undergoing rapid economic, social and political transformation.

Breaking new methodological ground, he demonstrates how a study of public discourse – in newspapers, blogs, signs and advertisements in the urban landscape – can be used to monitor the complex changing role that English is now playing in education, employment and evolving social identities. He argues that researchers need to distinguish between different levels of English proficiency more sensitively and illustrates how the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) can be used as a research tool by sociolinguists.

Profiling English in China: The Pearl River Delta is intended as the first of a series of books exploring the changing social, economic and educational contexts in which English is learned and used. The book presents methods of inquiry which will be useful for researchers working in other parts of the world, and will be essential reading for anyone seeking a wider understanding of the role of English in globalisation and economic development.

Download the complete book

On this site

  • Home
  • Why Cambridge English?
  • Exams and tests
  • Learning English
  • Teaching English
  • News
  • Events
  • Help
  • About us
  • Who accepts our exams?
  • Agents
  • Consultancy
  • Research
  • Contact us
  • ALTE logo
  • English Profile logo
  • Cambridge University Press
  • Cambridge Assessment logo
  • BSI Logo

View Related Sites

  • Cambridge English main site
  • Cambridge English helpdesk
  • Cambridge English Penfriends
  • Cambridge English Schools
  • Cambridge English Online
  • Cambridge English for Centres
  • Preparation Centres Online
  • Results Verification Service
  • Occupational English Test
  • Cambridge University Press
  • ALTE
  • English Profile
  • Cambridge Assessment
  • Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing
  • Michigan Language Assessment
  • Cambridge Assessment Japan Foundation


Copyright ©  UCLES

  • Terms & conditions
  • Data protection
  • Accessibility statement
  • Statement on modern slavery
  • Safeguarding policy
  • Sitemap
Back to top
We use cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving your consent for us to set cookies Dismiss