The Common European Framework and the European Language Portfolio (ELP): involving learners and their judgements in the assessment process The ELP team of Alpha Athens School District
The European Language Portfolio (ELP) and the
Common European Framework of Reference for Lan (CEFR) were first proposed at a Council of Europe (CoE) symposium in 1991. They were intended to complement each other and provide a way of teaching and assessing all languages in Europe
Language Biography to keep a record of their progress in learning languages. to record how they learn languages Language Passport to show which languages they know to show what they know and can do in Languages. Language Dossier to keep some examples of work they've done in languages.
We recommend starting it from the third grade. A new team for adapting and piloting the current version for 2nd graders will be formed in October 2013. One teaching session per week or two weeks is enough. We recommend using it during the whole school year.
To help students: Self
assess and reflect on their progress.
Become
autonomous and life-long learners.
Provide
a record of their language skills and
cultural experiences. Develop
learning.
an assessment culture in language
Questions learners should ask and answer to achieve self-assessment
What are we learning?
Why are we learning it?
How are we learning it?
With how much success?
What are going to learn next?
1. Photo file
Make the activities more communicative
Before your students begin an activity, write a descriptor from the ELP on the board: For a writing activity “I can write a text that has a beginning, a course of actions/plot, and an ending and can use linking words like “first”, “after that”, “later”, and “because”. Focusing on the descriptor constitutes the first ELPrelated practice in which the teacher aims to raise students’ awareness of the aim of the task and the strategies or structures they need to use to achieve it.
Make the activities more communicative. You can make a project and add it in the dossier section.
There is a website for the ELP, developed by the piloting team: http://eltaaelp.wikispaces.com You will get an email invitation to join the website. Accept it and create a username and password to view the material.
Reflection is a process that begins with looking back on a situation, pondering over it, learning from it and then using the new knowledge to help you in future similar situations.
Questions