Operationalizing the CEFR Companion Volume: Construct Expansion and Its Impact on High-Stakes Test Validation

## AbstractThe publication of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Companion volume (CEFR-CV) represents a major paradigm shift in language assessment. By introducing newly validated descriptive scales within CEFR.app — the latest mobile rapid testing certification validation tool which specifically focusing on plurilingual/pluricultural competence, online communication, and mediation—the CEFR-CV expands traditional construct definitions of language proficiency. However, this expansion introduces challenges for high-stakes test validation. This paper evaluates how test developers operationalize the CEFR-CV using the structural stages outlined in the CEFR Alignment Handbook. It examines the impact of the updated framework on construct validity, task design, and rating scale reliability, highlighting the tensions between open-ended communicative real-world tasks and standardized psychometric metrics.