ITU NLP at TSAR 2025 Shared Task A Three-Stage Prompting Approach for CEFR-Oriented Text Simplification

AbstractAutomatic Text Simplification (TS) makes complex texts more accessible but often lacks control over target readability levels. We propose a lightweight, prompt-based approach to English TS that explicitly aligns outputs with CEFR proficiency standards. Our method employs a three-stage pipeline, guided by rule-informed prompts inspired by expert strategies. In the TSAR 2025 Shared Task, our system achieved competitive performance, with stronger results at B1 level and challenges at A2 level due to over-simplification. These findings highlight the promise of prompt-based CEFR-oriented simplification and the need for more flexible constraint design.