European Languages Portfolio (ELP)
The ELP Project was launched on a European scale during the European Year of Languages 2001. It comprises a language passport which summarises the owner's linguistic identity, language learning achievement, and intercultural experience, and includes the owner's assessment of his/her own language competence according to the Council of Europe's Common Reference Levels, the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR); a language biography, which is used to review progress; and a dossier in which the owner collects samples of his/her work.
The ELP is designed to encourage the lifelong learning of languages, to develop the learner's ability to assess his/her own competence , to facilitate mobility within Europe by providing a profile of the owner's language skills, and to promote plurilingualism and intercultural learning.
Since 2000, 101 ELP models have been accredited by the European Language Portfolio Validation Committee (EVC).
Context for use of the ELP in Ireland: At the 20th Session of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe, Cracow, Poland, 15 -17 October 2000 a resolution was adopted in which it was recommended that every member state implement or create conditions favourable for the implementation and wide use of the ELP according to the Principles and Guidelines laid down by the Education Committee (see http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Portfolio/documents/ResolutionELP.doc)
Recommendation CM/Rec(2008)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the use of the CEFR and the promotion of plurilingualism includes in a list of principles and measures to be implemented by authorities responsible for education at national, regional and local level, the promotion of the use of the ELP. In a list of specific measures aimed at policy making, curriculum and textbook development, teacher training and assessment, use of the ELP is suggested as a means of familiarisation with ways to transmit the CEFR-based concept of plurilingualism to learners. (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/SourceForum07/Rec%20CM%202008-7_EN.doc)
The use of the ELP in Ireland: David Little, the person nominated by the DES to liaise between Irish ELP projects and the Modern Languages Division of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg has been responsible for most of the work on the ELP in Ireland. He is also a consultant to the European Validation Committee and co-ordinator of a project in Whole School Use of the ELP that is part of the 3rd medium-term programme of the ECML.
Other examples of David Little's work include the ELP for language learners at post-primary level, developed as the main dissemination instrument of the CLCS Learner Autonomy Project (1997-2001) which is no longer in use; ELPs for adult newcomers (a) who are newly arrived in Ireland with little or no proficiency in English and (b) who have already spent some time here and/or have some proficiency in English; ELPs for adult newcomers preparing for mainstream vocational training and employment and CercleS (European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education) ELP for use in higher education.
The MLPSI developed an ELP for use in primary schools, which in addition to a standard purpose of motivating learners to improve their ability to communicate in different languages and encouraging them to reflect on their language learning, also contains a very attractive Young Learners Guide, which further promotes the idea of autonomous learning and explains in a very child-friendly manner how to best use the ELP and it also contains an explanatory booklet for adults, in order to encourage parents to work with their children in using the ELP.
Proposal for Piloting ELPs on a wider scale in post-primary schools: In 2006 a joint proposal of the Department of Education and Science (DES), the National Council for Curriculumm and Assessment (NCCA) and the Centre for Language and Communication Studies (CLCS) for a four-year pilot project was put forward entitled Using the European Language Portfolio to support the teaching and learning of Irish and modern languages at post-primary level. The authors of this proposal were Paul Caffrey (DES) and David Little (CLCS) and it was developed in response to discussions between the DES and the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe in relation to the potential of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP) to support language teaching and learning in Ireland and to promote diversity and plurilingualism.
The proposal was an integrated follow-up to recommendations made in the Review of Languages and recommended a four-year project that would use the ELP to focus on the development of an integrated approach to the teaching and learning of Irish and modern languages in post-primary education, familiarise teachers and learners with the CEFR, and explore the potential of the ELP to support development in the assessment of language learning. The proposal was planned in the context of the ongoing NCCA pilot project on Assessment for Learning (AfL), the rebalancing of Junior Certificate subjects, and the development of an ICT framework for the use of ICT in teaching and learning.
Although the DES approved funds for this project it has not yet been implemented.
