The research team views the Comparative Framework as a tool to provide ESL practitioners with the means to examine and understand Essential Skills descriptors and tasks through the familiar lens of the Canadian Language Benchmarks. However, it is important to note that the framework is not intended to be used as an equivalency table or concordance. Given the imperfect convergence between the ES and CLB scales, and given the dissimilarity of the underlying constructs, inferences of precise equivalency based on the CF are neither possible nor desirable. Instead, the goal of the Comparative Framework should be clearly understood as this: to facilitate the integration of ES-related tasks and materials into the ESL context.
The framework has been designed for low-stakes applications such as classroom materials selection, with initial validation study findings supporting this limited application. Practitioners are therefore warned to avoid using the Comparative Framework for high-stakes endeavours such as choosing assessment tasks, creating test specifications, or establishing workplace selection criteria.
Further information about how to use the CLB and ES Comparative Framework and related research and resources can be found at the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks website www.language.ca or at www.itsessential.ca in Fall 2005, including:
For more information about Essential Skills research and resources, please visit the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada website at http://www15.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/english/general/home_e.asp