CercleS Seminar: Ten years of the CEFR and the ELP

 

Ten years ago, in 2001, the European Year of Languages was celebrated with much success in 45 different countries. In that memorable year, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was launched, together with its complement the European Language Portfolio (ELP).

This means that 2011 is a historically and internationally significant year for the European language learning and teaching community: a year in which we can look back on the use and the impact of the CEFR and the ELP. It is also a time when we can look forward to new challenges and opportunities.

We are therefore extremely proud to invite you to this seminar organized to celebrate the triple anniversary of the European Year of Languages, the CEFR and the ELP.

  

CEFR and ELP Seminar

The central role of the learner in using the CEFR and the ELP

24-26 November 2011 in Groningen, the Netherlands

This Seminar will be the third seminar in a series, the first of which took place in Dublin (2007) and the second in Padua (2009).

 

This Seminar will be organised in cooperation with CercleS and the Association of Dutch Language Centres NUT. It will be held at the University of Groningen and be hosted by the University of Groningen Language Centre.

 

CEFR and ELP

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR: 2001) emphasizes that the central objective of language education is ‘to promote the favourable development of the learner’s whole personality and sense of identity in response to the enriching experience of otherness in language and culture’. Taking this holistic understanding of the learner as its starting point, the CEFR, together with its accompanying tool the European Language Portfolio (ELP), creates the potential for the development of greater learner autonomy in the language learning process. However, the CEFR leaves the precise interpretation of learning needs and objectives to the learners themselves and their teachers: ‘It must be left to the teachers and the learners themselves to reintegrate the many parts into a healthily developing whole’ (2001: 1).

From the start, therefore, the CEFR and ELP have emphasized the role of plurilingual learners, together with their teachers, at the centre of the language education process.

 

This seminar aims to discuss the extent to which we are succeeding, through the use of language portfolios and other CEFR-related tools, in encouraging lifelong learners to take an autonomous role in the learning of a variety of languages.

 

The seminar will address three areas:

1. CEFR-related tools, such as the European Language Portfolio (ELP) or similar portfolios, which enable or empower learners in the autonomous development of language skills.

2. The role and identity of the learner, and the extent to which our use of the CEFR/ELP leads to the promotion of the ‘learner’s whole personality’ during the language learning process.

3. The role of the teacher in relation to the language learner in the context of the CEFR/ELP and other tools currently available for language learning.

 

Venue:               The University of Groningen

Date:                  24 – 26 November 2011

Participants:       Expected number of participants: between 175–200

Call for papers:  15 May - 19 September 2011

 

For further info, please see the seminar website.