Implementing the European Language Portfolio in the Teaching and Learning Process

This recommendation of implementation of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) and Europass is based on ELPiPL (European Language Portfolio on student’s journey through studies into professional life), a project co-financed by the Lifelong learning programme of European Commission; it does not represent the opinion of REAL.

ELPiPL (2009 - 2011) joined organisations and educational institutions in Finland, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The participants represent 90 organisations, nine educational institutions, seven national Europass Centres and 1950 youth and adult students.

European Language Portfolio (ELP)

The ELP is a personal document and means of information as well as a tool facilitating language learning. It enables the documentation of language competences, cultural experience obtained both formally and informally, to present this information in a way which is understandable and transparent internationally. It provides advice how to plan, control one‘s language learning and reflect on the process. The portfolio encourages reflection and self-assessment of learning skills in language learning, helps to monitor the process of learning and record the progress.

Multifunctional Portfolio

The European Language Portfolio has the following functions:

• Teaching/learning process: makes teaching/learning process transparent; shows progress; 
• Teaching/learning tool for assessment: helps to assess learner‘s progress and the results achieved; 
• Means of assessing and acknowledging previous learning both informally and non-formally;

The portfolio is an alternative tool to facilitate the shift from a traditional teaching paradigm to a learning paradigm in education. The European Language Portfolio helps students to prepare for their future professions; it can be applied in all levels of education.

Recommendations for the Ministry of Education level decision-makers

• Allot hours for the ELP implementation in the language syllabus in secondary and higher education institutions. 
• Train educators how to integrate ELP into the study process. 
• Include the ELP in language teacher training programmes.
• Encourage integrated teaching based on ELP. 
• The Process-oriented portfolio functions as an effective non-traditional teaching/learning method and as a tool for documentation of the whole teaching/learning process as well as for recording students‘ progress and achievements. 
• The Result-oriented portfolio in higher education may be used 1) for assessment of acquired competences (students‘ study results) and study programmes (comparing students‘ achievements to study programme aims and objectives); 2) for assessment and acknowledgement of informally and non-formally acquired competences and their accreditation. By looking at successful experience in some countries, it can be stated that this method would contribute to enhancing Lifelong Learning skills.

Recommendations for educators and school administrators

What is important when implementing ELP

• While implementing the ELP it is recommended to involve school teams, learners, parents; it will facilitate the process and make it more effective. The Portfolio is also a tool for development of teachers‘ competences. 
• Organise training seminars for teachers. 
• Establish work groups to handle the process in schools and other educational institutions and teacher training centres. 
• Disseminate good practices via the Internet, seminars, research, publications, and open lessons. 
• It should be noted that the ELP work must help the learner but not make learning more complicated, it should not create an extra work-load. 
• A Digital Portfolio instead of a paper one is an objective for the future.

Benefits of Implementing the ELP

For language learners

Learners can benefit from using the ELP in many ways. They verbalise the learning history and the present stage of their language competence when writing the language passports and biographies. They set goals, monitor and reflect their learning.

Learners develop their learning skills along with developing language skills and competences. At the same time communication and media competences as well as cultural and intercultural competences are developed.

Learners can assess their skills in ELP with help of the European Framework of Reference. They document the previous learning, formal and non-formal, in their language passports.

The ELP dossier enables learners to display their skills with concrete samples. The samples can be seen as learning achievements and help learners visualise their learning. The portfolio can also be used to seek acknowledgement of prior learning.

The project website has examples of the project students’ language portfolios at:

http://www.elpipl.com/students/students-material-bank/sample-portfolios.

For language teachers

Teachers become aware of their learners and learn to know them better through the language biographies. This helps the teacher to plan her/his actions and thus support the learning process. The use of language biographies also signals that the teacher cares about the students.

The language passport tells the teacher how the learners perceive themselves as language learners and how homogeneous or heterogeneous the learning groups are. The language passports and biographies can also be used to develop and document learning of different competencies in different levels of education. The language portfolio can give a new teacher a comprehensive insight into a learner’s competences.

Recommendations for representatives from the world of business

90 organisations in various fields of industries and state administration, participated in the work life cooperation. All the organizations had a positive attitude towards the use of the ELP in recruitment process. Half of them were familiar with the Europass. The Europass CV was known among one third but 80 % would recommend using it in recruitment.

Portfolios can be used when recruiting new staff. The European Language Portfolio reflects the candidate‘s linguistic, communicative competences transparently and in an internationally acknowledged way. Integrated portfolios of foreign language and professional skills are beneficiary for the employer because they prove candidate‘s ability to perform in a particular professional field.

Organizations should encourage staff members to work with integrated portfolios based on ELP principles. The use of the ELP and the Europass documents should increase in the future. The Europass homepage monthly visitor count exceeded 1 million in October 2010 for the first time.

• Insist that portfolios are used when recruiting new staff. 
• The European Language Portfolio reflects the candidate‘s linguistic, communicative competences transparently and in an internationally acknowledged way. 
• Integrated portfolios of foreign language and professional skills are beneficiary for the employer because they prove candidate‘s ability to perform in a particular professional field. 
• Encourage staff members to work with integrated portfolios based on ELP principles

Materials and project outcomes

Outcomes of our project can be found at the project website http://www.elpipl.com where one can find e.g. sample language portfolios, activities and teacher and learner handbooks for the use of language portfolios.

Contacts

Liisa Wallenius, Project Manager, HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences liisa.wallenius@haaga-helia.fi, Tel. +358 40 488 7252