European Language Association Portfolio

The European Language Portfolio is a tool in which your informal inter-cultural experiences and language experiences you have gained at school, vocational training and throughout your life are recorded and reported. This file will provide a record of your language learning qualifications and experiences in a way that is clearly reflected in European criteria to be used in your career.

The European Language Portfolio belongs to you, but also allows your language proficiency to be immediately seen through case studies by employers and educators.

The European Language Portfolio consists of three parts: Language Passport, Language History and File. Each section contains descriptions on how to use them.

The Language Passport contains general information about your proficiency in different languages at certain periods. Identifies important language and cross-cultural learning experiences and language competencies/skills by keeping formal qualifications and self-assessment records. The Standard Passport (European Language Portfolio for people over the age of 16) proposed by the Council of Europe facilitates equivalence and free movement throughout Europe.

Language History allows the person to state what he/she can do with each language he/she knows, and to add information about his linguistic and cultural experience gained both inside and outside formal education systems, as well as what he/she has acquired in vocational education and workplace. It makes it easier for the person to evaluate the learning process and development and to plan the training process. It also encourages multilingualism in the sense of being proficient in many languages.

It allows you to record the materials required to explain and document your successes and experiences recorded in the File Language History and Language Passport sections. 

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is an interstate organization with its permanent headquarters in Strasbourg, France. Its main purpose is to improve the unity of the continent; to ensure the dignity of European citizens by ensuring the respectability of fundamental values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

One of its purposes is to increase mutual understanding among people from different cultures by increasing the awareness of European cultural identity. In this context, the Council of Europe coordinates the promotion of the European Language Portfolio to provide equivalence and support language learning and cross-cultural experiences at all levels.

Council of Europe has presented the European Language Portfolio as a helping tool to language learners to

• follow this process while their learning is taking place

• record the language learning stages and experiences containing the important cross-cultural contacts as well.

Goals:

• To strengthen the development of language learning and experiences

• To promote learning multiple languages 

• To ensure the transitivity between education and business areas

• To promote democratic citizenship in Europe

• To demonstrate the value of linguistic diversity.

The European Language Portfolio consists of three parts:

1- Language Passport

This document is a record of one's language skills, language competencies and cross-cultural experiences.

Language skills are defined by the proficiency levels presented in the European Common Criteria Framework Document. The scale (self-assessment chart) is presented in the Language Passport. This scale is part of the language passport as well as the self-assessment chart.

The contents of the passport are as follows:

• Language skills profile

• Summary of language learning and cross-cultural experiences

• Registration of certificates and diplomas

2- Language History

This section is a record of the language learning history and helps one to set language learning goals, record language competencies and progress in the self-assessment scheme.

3- File

It is the section that shows and documents experience and stages. This section contains examples of various personal studies. Certificates and diplomas of the file owner are also included in this section.

This portfolio has been prepared in 4 languages (Turkish, English, French, German) to make it easier to use.