Questions & Answers

What is the European Language Portfolio?

The European Language Portfolio is designed to encourage foreign language learning by providing a framework in which all language competencies and cultural contacts can be recorded. Since the Common European Framework is now being used by all the major examination boards in Europe, the individual will be able to have all his or her language competences and experiences recognised throughout Europe.
The Portfolio is a collection of documents in which language learners record their language achievements, experiences and cultural contacts, both formal learning in schools and other institutions and informal contacts with foreign languages.

The Portfolio consists of three main parts: the Language Passport, the Language Biography and the Language Dossier.

The Language Passport contains personal details (date and place of birth, address, mother tongue, other languages known or studied etc.) just like an “ordinary” passport. It also lists the courses followed at school and outside, the examinations taken and the grades achieved. It describes the competences achieved not just in English but also in other foreign languages. There is a section where students make their own self-assessment of what they feel they can do in the foreign language.
The Passport provides an overview of the individual’s proficiency in different languages at a given point in time. The overview is defined in terms of ‘can do’ statements, describing acts of communication, comprehension and expression, rather than descriptions of language knowledge. Adult learners would present their Language Passport to an employer when applying for a job. The information in the passport might be updated every six months.

The Language Biography is like a learning diary in which learners set their goals, record their successes and failures and reflect on their learning. It also records cross-cultural contacts and reflections on these and is probably written largely in mother tongue.
Learners use the self-assessment grids to record what they can do now, and what they plan to be able to do in the near future. The language biography is usually updated every school term or when important new information is to be added (such as following a school trip or cultural exchange).

The Language Dossier is physically the largest document. It contains completed assignments, projects, essays, audio recordings, videos, computer files which document the learning and cross-cultural contacts described in the Biography. The contents of the Dossier are selected by the learner with the aim to illustrate the development of their competence in the language and illustrate the achievements or experiences recorded in the Language Passport and Language Biography. Students will add materials to their Language Dossier every month or two or whenever useful material is available.