European Language Passport

European Language Portfolio

It is a document in which those who are learning or have learned a language - whether at school or outside school - can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural experiences.

The portfolio contains a language passport which its owner regularly updates. A grid is provided where his/her language competences can be described according to common criteria accepted throughout Europe and which can serve as a complement to customary certificates. The document also contains a detailed language biography describing the owner's experiences in each language and which is designed to guide the learner in planning and assessing progress. Finally, there is a dossier where examples of personal work can be kept to illustrate one's language competences.

Three Parts of the Portfolio

Language Passport

The Passport section provides an overview of the individual's proficiency in different languages at a given point in time; the overview is defined in terms of skills and the common reference levels in the Common European Framework; it records formal qualifications and describes language competencies and significant language and intercultural learning experiences; it includes information on partial and specific competence; it allows for self-assessment, teacher assessment and assessment by educational institutions and examinations boards; it requires that information entered in the Passport states on what basis, when and by whom the assessment was carried out. To facilitate pan-European recognition and mobility a standard presentation of a Passport Summary is promoted by the Council of Europe for ELPs for adults.

Language Biography

The Language Biography facilitates the learner's involvement in planning, reflecting upon and assessing his or her learning process and progress; it encourages the learner to state what he/she can do in each language and to include information on linguistic and cultural experiences gained in and outside formal educational contexts; it is organised to promote plurilingualism i.e. the development of competencies in a number of languages.

Dossier

The Dossier offers the learner the opportunity to select materials to document and illustrate achievements or experiences recorded in the Language Biography or Passport.

For further information please visit European Council’s website.

http://www.coe.int/portfolio

SOCRATES - Comenius

Socrates is the European programme for education. Its main objective is precisely to build up a Europe of knowledge by encouraging cooperation between the participating countries and thus provide a better response to the major challenges of this new century: to promote lifelong learning, encourage access to education for everybody, and help people acquire recognized qualifications and skills. In more specific terms, Socrates seeks to promote language learning, and to encourage mobility and innovation. The actions taken under Socrates project are funded by European Comission and the National agencies. Eyüboğlu is one of the schools which implements Commenius School Partnership project of the Turkish National Agency.

The environmental initiative of Comenius, i.e. “Young Reporters of the World” is executed at Eyüboğlu Schools and a range of projects are carried out by the students to develop environmental awareness at school and in the community.

Eyüboğlu Educational Institutions has received a support of 6300 Euros from the EU’s educational funds for the project. The fund has been used to finance the expenses of implementing the project as well as for students’ and teachers’ trips to other countries.

Eyüboğlu Educational Institutions collaborates with Portugal, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Greece in the project titled “Speculum - An Online Voice for Transversal Policies”.

Within the scope of “Speculum - An Online Voice for Transversal Policies” project, a magazine will be published, which will be edited by all partner countries. The work regarding the publishing of the magazine will be coordinated by a school in Italy and the partnering countries will be Turkey, Portugal, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Greece. The themes that will be touched upon in the magazine will include “Equal Opportunity (for women, for the disabled, etc.)”, Young People, Their Dreams and Expectations”, “Young People and Divorced Families”, and Young People and the Environment”. The magazine will be prepared in English by the teachers and students of the participating high schools and will be published on the internet.

Throughout the project, the students will have the opportunity to share their ideas and experience, develop their language skills, gain experience in the journalism language and use multimedia technologies. The magazine’s being published on the internet will enable the non-partner schools to also be able to have access to it.

The project meeting in Turkey was hosted by Eyüboğlu Educational Institutions from 16-21 October 2005. The meetings continued in Sialiau-Lithuania in February 2006 and in Gorzow-Poland in May 2006.

Five other projects partnering with France, UK, Poland, Greece, Denmark, and the Netherlands which have been proposed by our students in various grade levels are waiting to be approved by the National Agency.

www.ua.gov.tr