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U Introduction to the project

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Focus• Use of the ELP to support the learning and teaching of

languages on a whole-school basis: all languages from the beginning to the end of the secondary curriculum

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Five interacting aims• To identify whole-school projects that already exist• To support the implementation of new whole-school

projects• To study the impact of such projects on schools,

teachers and learners (case studies) and identify the conditions that favour successful implementation

• To develop a guide to the design, implementation and managements of whole-school ELP projects

• To communicate project outcomes to decision makers

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Context• ECML’s 2nd Medium-Term Programme included two

projects on the ELP– Impel, which designed a website to support ELP

implementation projects– ELP_TT, which developed a kit of ELP-related materials for

use in in-service teacher development, trialled the materials at a central workshop, and used the materials selectively in national training events in 16 ECML member states

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Context• Whereas ELP_TT was concerned to support the use

of the ELP by individual language teachers, ELP-WSU moves to the next stage of implementation: use of the ELP to support all second/foreign language learning and teaching in the school

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ELP aims• Learner autonomy

– Depends on the individual teacher in her/his classroom – Guided by three pedagogical principles: learner involvement, learner

reflection, target language use (Little 2007)

• Plurilingualism and intercultural awareness/ skills– Can be developed only to a limited extent in the individual classroom – Are greatly enhanced when the focus is on all languages taught at

school (and other languages that the learners know and use)– The educational and pedagogical challenge: how can we use the ELP

to weave together the various language strands of the curriculum?

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ULearner autonomy: some basicsIn educational contexts autonomous language learners

• are able to take charge of their own learning (Holec 1981)

• develop a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action (Little 1991)

• can manage the affective dimension of their learning experience to motivational advantage (Ushioda 1996)

• become more autonomous in language learning as they become more autonomous in language use, and vice versa (Little 1991)

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ULearner autonomy: some basics• The freedom that learner autonomy implies is always

conditional and constrained: because we are social beings, our independence is always balanced by dependence; our essential condition is one of interdependence (Little 1991)

• Like the acquisition of language, the development of learner autonomy depends on social interaction (cf. Vygotsky 1978, 1986)

• Autonomous learners do things for themselves; they may or may not do things on their own

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ULearner autonomy: some basicsThe teacher’s indispensable role in the development of language learner autonomy is governed by three general pedagogical principles (Little 2007):– Learner involvement − we must involve learners fully in

planning, monitoring and evaluating their own learning – Learner reflection − we must help learners to reflect

continuously on the process and content of their learning and to engage in regular self-assessment

– Target language use − we must ensure that the target language is the medium as well as the goal of all learning, including the reflective component

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ULearner autonomy and the ELPIn principle the ELP can support the exercise and development of learner autonomy in three ways:1. When “I can” checklists reflect the demands of the official curriculum,

they provide learners (and teachers) with an inventory of learning tasks and activities that they can use to plan, monitor and evaluate learning over a school year, a term, a month or a week

2. The language biography is explicitly designed to associate goal setting and self-assessment with reflection on learning styles and strategies, and the cultural dimension of L2 learning and use

3. When the ELP is presented (partly) in the learners’ target language, it can help to promote the use of the target language as medium of learning and reflection

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UPlurilingualism: a definition• Plurilingualism

– is a characteristic of individuals– denotes the ability to communicate, at whatever level of

proficiency, in two or more languages

• Multilingualism– is a characteristic of societies– denotes the presence in a society of two or more linguistic

varieties

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The plurilingual approach• Language rights are part of human rights• A policy of plurilingualism is “crucial for social and political

inclusion of all Europeans, whatever their linguistic competences” (Beacco & Byram 2002, p.9)

• A policy of plurilingualism is also central to the creation of a sense of European identity

• Language education policies in Europe should aim to “enable individuals to be plurilingual either by maintaining and developing their existing plurilingualism or by helping them to develop from monolingualism (or bilingualism) into plurilingualism” (Beacco & Byram 2002, p.9)

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The plurilingual approach• The plurilingual ideal demands that

– inside and outside our educational systems we find ways of exploiting the plurilingualism that exists in our societies

– language education adds to society’s linguistic capital by ensuring that children and adolescents really do develop plurilingual proficiency at school

• At present – languages that form part of “live” plurilingual repertoires are too often

ignored entirely by educational systems or else viewed as an obstacle to efficient learning

– languages taught at school, traditionally in isolation from one another, too often fail to become part of learners’ living identity

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UPlurilingualism and the ELP• The ELP validates plurilingualism by

– accommodating all the languages that the user knows– giving equal value to all language proficiency– allowing the user to record partial competences

• The challenge for educational systems is to find ways of enacting this validation explicitly

• A principal task for ELP-WSU: to find practical ways of responding effectively to the challenge

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UIntercultural awareness/skillsAccording to the CEFR• “intercultural awareness includes an awareness of regional and social diversity

in … [the ‘world of origin’ and the ‘world of the target community’]” (Council of Europe 2001, p.103)

• “intercultural skills and know-how” include – the ability to bring the culture of origin and the foreign culture into relation

with each other– cultural sensitivity and the ability to identify and use a variety of strategies

for contact with those from other cultures– the capacity to fulfil the role of cultural intermediary between one’s own

culture and the foreign culture and to deal effectively with intercultural misunderstanding and conflict situations

– the ability to overcome stereotyped relationships (ibid., pp.104f.)

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UIntercultural awareness/skills and the ELPLanguage passport• At the higher levels of proficiency, the self-

assessment grid implies– explicit awareness of the socio-pragmatic dimension of

linguistic communication (e.g., B2 and C1 Reading, C1 and C2 Spoken interaction)

– some familiarity with the linguistically mediated culture of the target language (e.g., B2, C1 and C2 Reading, C2 Writing)

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UIntercultural awareness/skills and the ELPLanguage biography• At the higher proficiency levels, self-assessment

checklists have the same intercultural implication as the self-assessment grid in the language passport; in certain cases they may focus in some detail on linguistically mediated culture

• Most existing ELP models aimed at adolescent and adult learners encourage the owner to write reflectively on intercultural experiences of various kinds, but usually without providing a specific focus

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UIntercultural awareness/skills and the ELPDossier• The selection of documents for inclusion in the

dossier is the responsibility of the ELP owner and is an aspect of his/her self-assessment

• The extent to which the selection explicitly seeks to illustrate the owner’s intercultural awareness and skills is likely to be determined by the extent to which intercultural competence has been an explicit issue in his/her L2 learning experience

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UIntercultural awareness/skills and the ELP• In a particular language classroom the ELP facilitates the

development of intercultural awareness and skills in relation to similarities and differences between L1 and L2 cultures

• The challenge facing educational systems is to find ways of systematically developing intercultural awareness and skills that embrace all the languages that learners know, whether they have learnt them at school or outside school

• A principal task for ELP-WSU: to find practical ways of responding effectively to the challenge

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CooperationELP-WSU will cooperate as follows:• Within the Council of Europe, with the ELP Validation

Committee: the progress of the project will help to inform the committee’s development of ELP strategy at European level

• Within Council of Europe member states, with ELP Contact Persons: the progress of the project will be relevant to their implementation projects

• Between the institutions of the ELP-WSU project network, to be established at the end of this workshop

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UGeneral aim and specific objectives• General aim

– To promote, document and evaluate the use of the ELP on a whole-school basis

• Specific objectives– To identify existing whole-school ELP projects and to support the

development and implementation of new projects– On the basis of the projects conducted within the ELP-WSU

network, to compile (i) a guide to the design, implementation and evaluation of whole-school ELP projects and (ii) a series of case studies

– To mediate the project results and outcomes to decision makers, e.g. school principals, school inspectors, ministry officials

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Events and activities• 2008

– Meeting of project team to plan workshop (May)– Workshop (October)– Project members start work in their schools, beginning to

track an existing whole-school project or planning a new whole-school project

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Events and activities• 2009

– Meeting of project team to (i) discuss interim reports from project network and (ii) draft guide to the design, implementation and evaluation of whole-school ELP projects

– Project members report according to a timetable to be agreed in this workshop

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Events and activities• 2010

– Meeting of project team to (i) further discuss interim reports and draft guide and (ii) prepare network meeting

– Network meeting to review final reports from network members and discuss draft case studies and guide

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Events and activities• 2011

– Meeting of project team to discuss case studies and guide and prepare concluding workshop

– Concluding workshop to mediate project results to decision makers, e.g. school principals, school inspectors, ministry officials

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UProfile of workshop/network participants• Professional background

– Language teacher already closely familiar with the ELP and either (i) involved in an existing whole-school ELP project or (ii) in a position to design, implement and evaluate a new whole-school project as part of this ECML project

• Experience required– Experience of working with an accredited version of the ELP;

general familiarity with the modern languages work of the Council of Europe and the ECML

• Expected involvement– Will record the progress of his/her project following agreed

guidelines and report regularly to the project web site

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U Introduction to Group Work 1

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UBasic information to gatherFor each member of your group:

• Which languages does she/he know?• Which language(s) does she/he she teach?• In what kind of institution?• How many students attend the institution?• Which languages are taught at the institution? • Which validated ELP model does she/he use?• Is the ELP used on a whole-school basis?• If yes,

– Is there formal coordination?– Are there any innovative pedagogical practices?

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UBasic information to gatherFor each member of your group:• How does she/he use the ELP

– to foster the development of learner autonomy?– to promote intercultural awareness?– to promote plurilingualism?

• What attracts her/him to this project?• Is there anything in particular that she/he wishes to

contribute to the project?