The Common European Framework of References for Languages Framework, along with the European Language Portfolio are used increasingly today in all levels of foreign language learning. Research has shown them to have positive effects on language learning. Despite this they have only had a limited use at university level. This paper describes problems involved in trying to use the Framework descriptors as the starting point for organising teaching and assessing teacher trainer students’ language proficiency and suggests that resistance to its use are because of the characteristics of the local learning culture. The results in this paper suggest that the introduction of the Framework descriptors has only had a limited influence on teacher practice. Whilst the learner outcomes connected to the Framework have made more explicit the expectations put on students, traditional views amongst teachers about teaching,learning and assessment mean that there has only been a limited influence on reporting student progress and in making decisions about teaching. These views and practices are closely related to what Bernstein has described as the dominant curriculum model in universities, the disciplinary model; characterized by vertical pedagogic relations between teachers and students, with the rules of selection of curriculum content and of evaluation residing in the hands of the teachers. The transmitter (the teacher) has explicit control and education implies a strong emphasis on students’ acquisitions of theoretical knowledge.These charcteristics are in contrast to the ideas behind the Framework, which are closer to Bernstein’s other curriculum model the vocational model, which emphasises the development of specific skills relevant for specific situations and the ability to combine concepts and skills in practice.