On 1 December 2004, we held a one-day colloquium entitled ‘De-mystifying the European Language Portfolio’. The event was very successful with around 70 delegates attending and the discussions were interesting and useful for teachers and learners.
This report provides an overview of the topics discussed during the day, the speakers’ presentations and links to further information
The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is an educational tool to support the development of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism. The portfolio enables students to regularly update their language competencies in three sections: the language passport, the language biography and the dossier. These competencies are described according to common criteria accepted throughout Europe and can serve as a complement to customary certificates.
The ELP was developed and piloted by the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg. It was launched on a pan-European level during the European Year of Languages in 2000.
Find out more about the ELP on the Council of Europe website
Through research with the education ministries in Belgium we discovered that the ELP is being increasingly talked about but not universally welcomed by those involved in the development of curricula and, most importantly, by some teachers.
Our one-day colloquium generated discussion on how the ELP can be implemented effectively in different educational settings. Our aim was to de-mystify the ELP and show the benefits for teachers and learners. We sought to examine and clarify how it can be implemented effectively into learning programmes.
We also wanted our speakers to share their experiences (good or bad) of implementing the ELP in their study programmes. Participants discussed the problems that they have encountered and the background preparation necessary to make the Portfolio work.
Download the colloquium programme (PDF 1.47MB)
Delegates at the colloquium represented educational experts from the Flemish and French-speaking communities in Belgium, as well as some guest speakers from the UK and Ireland. They illustrated that the ELP encourages learners to become autonomous in acquiring communication skills within various learning groups, including children and business studies students.
Chris Van Woensel
Advisor at the Department of Educational Development, Ministry of Education, Flanders
Chris Van Woensel focused on the Flemish language portfolio and the problems concerning promotion and development of the ELP on a macro level.
Flanders and the European Language Portfolio: What is (not) happening? (PPS 214KB)
Gilbert De Samblanc
Inspector, Communauté Française de Belgique and Portfolio co-ordinator for the French speaking community
Gilbert De Samblanc gave a presentation on the implementation of two versions of the ELP in the French Community: "Mon premier portfolio” and “Le portfolio de l’enseignement secondaire”.
He also discussed experimenting with the ELP, its implementation and the reaction of teachers.
Presentation summary by Gilbert De Samblanc (PDF 274KB)
David Little
Founding Director, Centre for Language and Communication Studies (Trinity College Dublin) and Consultant to the Council of Europe’s ELP
In his presentation "The European Language Portfolio in the classroom: two examples from Ireland" David Little reported on the role played by the ELP in teaching English as a second language to primary pupils, and second and foreign languages to post-primary students in Ireland.
Presentation summary by David Little (PDF 292KB)
Barbara Stevens
European Projects Officer & Representative of ALTE
Barbara Stevens presented the pilot project eELP, a downloadable and self-extracting programme through which multimedia files can be incorporated as a support to the ELP.
An electronic Language Portfolio: a pilot project (PPS 83KB)
www.eELP.org
Lut Baten
Teacher of EFL methodology & Business English at ILT and KULeuven
Lut Baten implemented the Portfolio in a Business English course for graduate students of economics as a means to guide autonomous language learning and integrate them in class activities and tutorials. She reported and reflected on the tools these future business people have used to establish confidence in their foreign language skills and how these means serve as a basis to improve competencies.
Portfolio and means for autonomous foreign language learning (PPS 2.75MB)
Andrew Manasseh
Business Development Manager, EU, British Council Brussels
In his presentation Andrew presented the British Council’s experiences of implementing the ELP at their teaching centre in Milan. He explained how the British Council managed the reactions of teachers and students and the risks of the changeover.
Using the CEF to develop English courses for teenagers at the British Council Milan (PDF 129KB) © Oxford University Press 2004. Reproduced by permission. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited.
Gary Anderson
ELT Publishing Development Coordinator & International Teaching Trainer, Europe+
Gary Anderson’s presentation clarified how the ELP should be put into practice and how it helps the students with their study skills. Thus students’ competencies become comparable on an international / European scale.
Emma Calland
Area Manager Oxford University Press, Benelux
Emma gave a presentation on the Activity-based learning and assessment competencies of the ELP Activity-based learning and assessment
Presentation summary unavailable.
Grant Kempton
Marketing Project Manager, Pearson Education
Just like learner autonomy, portfolios need students to be motivated to use and therefore motivated to learn. This means getting them fit for English and fit for portfolios. In his presentation (Let’s Get Fit for English, Fit for Portfolios!), Grant Kempton looked at ways of doing this, with the help of a new course for teenagers, called ‘Energy’.
Presentation summary unavailable.
The presentations were followed by an open discussion on the European Language Portfolio.
Summary of the open discussion (PDF 276KB)
ALTE
The Association of Language Testers in Europe is an association of institutions within Europe, each of which produces examinations and certification for language learners. Each member provides examinations of the language which is spoken as a mother tongue in their own country or region.
Europees platform voor het Nederlandse onderwijs
The aim of the European Platform for Dutch Education is the strengthening of the European dimension, the promotion of internationalisation in Dutch education and in this way contributing to the quality of education. The Platform focuses on primary and secondary education, teacher training, vocational training and adult education.
Nassauplein 8, 1815 GM Alkmaar, The Netherlands
Telephone +31 (0)72 511 85 02
E-mail algemeen@europeesplatform.nl
Regionaal Integratie Centrum Foyer Brussel
Foyer was founded with the social integration of immigrants in Brussels as a goal. They examine among others the integration of the Language Portfolio in a multi-language educational setting. Rue des Ateliers 25, 1080 Brussels
Telephone +32 (0)2/411 74 95
E-mail foyer@foyer.be
CIEP (Centre International d’Etudes Pédagogiques)
You find a pedagogical case for language assistants of English, German and French to be used in primary school. www.ciep.fr/malletgb/present.htm
Interesting newsletters for French-speaking bilingual schools can be found on www.ciep.fr/bibil/index.php3 and a newsletter about COE developments is published on www.ciep.fr/courrieleuro/index.php3. This newsletter is for free and available three times a year. It notifies about investigations and publications exerted by the European Council concerning its language policies and proposes references, reflections and tools.
CiLT (The National Centre for Languages)
Information related to the ELP, the Junior version and the version for adults and vocational language learners.
CLCS (Centre for Language and Communication Studies), Trinity College Dublin
Lists ELP Models developed in Ireland, other projects associated with CLCS, research conducted in the areas of linguistics, applied linguistics & experimental phonetics and speech science.
Council of Europe, European Language Portfolio: Language Policy Division
This website gives a profound overview of the ELP with downloadable documents, guides, upcoming events and seminars. The information is in English and French.
Europees Taalportfolio
This website is for primary and secondary school students and teachers. They can download a demonstration of the ELP or create one by logging in. From then on, they are free to insert information and update their portfolio at any time. A portfolio can be created for the following languages: German, English, Dutch, French, Berber, Spanish, Turkish, Arab, Chinese, Italian, New-Greek, Papiamento, Portuguese and Russian.
Languages work
This website is the on-line information portal supporting a wide range of products designed to show the true value of languages in the workplace and beyond. It is also designed to help careers advisers and teachers to provide guidance on the use of languages at work and at play. Information on the website is in English.
Nacell (National Advisory Centre on Early Language Learning)
The Language Portfolio and the associated Teacher's Guide are freely available for download in Acrobat PDF format. The Portfolio is also offered by mail order. Information on the website is in English.
Toetswijzer, Europese taalportfolio
Detailed information related to the ELP in Dutch.
University of Bremen, ELP: Language Skills Self-Assessment Grids
Provides access to the Self-Assessment grids where you can select the skill (listening, reading, speaking & writing) you want to evaluate. Information on the website is in English
WordClassifier
WordClassifier is a free simple piece of software that identifies the 'lexical difficulty profile' of texts and to classify the words in it in terms of their usefulness for further learning. It is developed by the KULeuven.
Managing 'difficult' words in authentic texts with the (shareware) WordClassifier" (PDF 171KB)
Download WordClassifier (ZIP 12.5MB)
Our role was to bring our key contacts together from the Francophone and Flemish educational communities and to discuss these issues. Feedback from participants was very positive and we are planning to stage more discussions and think-tank events here at British Council Brussels.
We would like to thank all the guest speakers for their valuable contributions and all of the participants who made the discussions lively and stimulating.
Report by Marijke Dubois
'De-Mystifying the European Language Portfolio' was organised by British Council Brussels in collaboration with the ministries of education for the French and Flemish communities and was sponsored by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Pearson Longman.
For further information, please contact Pascale Laurent
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