ELP

At this moment I’m not teaching at any school but I’m preparing myself in order to have all the certificates to get a job as a science teacher. That’s why my opinions are based on the texts that I have read about this topic and not on any experiences related to it.

As far as I’m concerned, the European Language Portfolio (ELP) basically fulfills two main functions. On the one hand, it has a pedagogic function, whereas on the other hand, it has a more informative function.

The pedagogic function refers to the way the ELP motivates learners in the way they improve their ability to communicate in other languages and they meet new cultures. Furthermore, the ELP helps learners to think carefully about their objectives, the ways they learn, how to plan their learning time and how to be autonomous. Finally, it focuses on their plurilingual and intercultural experiences.

If we think about the more informative function, we should take into account that this document shows in a reliable and transparent way what the language level of the person is. That way, it is easy to see and understand the level that the person has reached in different foreign languages. In the world we are living in, this tool is very useful, as people travel a lot due to work needs.

I would like to be a science teacher someday. It is well-known that English is the language of science. Therefore, we should teach science in English. From that point of view, I think that using the ELP in my class would have many advantages. The main advantage would be that a learner who is using the ELP is more concerned about his/her own learning. This makes our learner more independent and autonomous. Companies nowadays look for people who are able to make decisions and work out problems efficiently. Effectiveness, efficiency and motivation are the main advantages related to the learners.

If we think about the teachers, I would like to say that the personal motivation of the learners is going to affect in a positive way the general atmosphere of the classroom. In addition, the ELP means a very interesting tool to assess our students.

However, there are also some disadvantages. These documents can sometimes be a little bit difficult to understand. I’m not a language teacher and the descriptor given in order to describe the different level are not always clear enough to me. How could I know properly the language level of a student? And what’s more, how could I make my students understand the importance of the ELP?