Operationalising historical literacy with CEFR-aligned descriptors: an exploratory study

Abstract This paper aims to operationalise History literacy descriptors at CEFR B1 and B2 levels, using student-written texts from an EMI Ancient History course in Spain. The objective is threefold: (1) to identify the range and frequency of CDFs in students’ writing, (2) to explore whether and how disciplinary expertise shapes interpretation of CDF descriptors and language-for-CDF descriptors in the coding process, and (3) to identify areas in the CDF and language-for-CDF descriptors that require refinement. Texts were independently coded at the macro/micro levels by the team of researchers, using the descriptors for content and academic language, followed by analytical discussions to identify the most used CDFs and to establish coder-coder intersubjectivity. Findings reveal that CDFs differed depending on the students’ English proficiency levels and historical understanding, with CDF_Evaluate and CDF_Explore appearing more frequently at B2 level. The experts’ discussions highlighted the complexity of finding common ground when coding and helped co-construct intersubjectivity through the negotiation of the shared understanding. Although the study supports the viability of CDF-aligned descriptors, the analysis revealed incongruencies in coding of the historical content and the linguistic realisations, identifying the need to better align the CDF and language-for-CDF descriptors and suggesting refinements.