Launch of European Language Portfolio - SALIS initiative
25 November 2002

Ms Juliette Pechenart, Ms Veronica Crosbie and Dr Jenny Bruen

Dick Roche, td, Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs, launched the the pilot version of the European Language Portfolio on Wednesday 20 November in the Helix. The director of this new initiative, Veronica Crosbie of the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, received financial support in the form of a Fellowship in Teaching and Learning early in 2002 to support her plans to set up the portfolio in DCU.

The aim of the portfolio is to assist students to evaluate their own language learning skills which will then allow increased comparability of language qualifications across Europe. The portfolio consists of three parts: the language passport in which the language learner records formal qualifications as well as self-assessment of language skills; a language biography which fosters learner independence by assisting the learner to set, monitor and evaluate language learning aims and objectives; and thirdly a language dossier in which samples of work as evidence of language competency is collected.

According to Dick Roche, td, it is complacent for us to rely on English as our only means of communication. It is important to broaden our competency in other languages in order to communicate in the new multicultural and multilingual environment of the new Europe. This view was endorsed by DCU President, Ferdinand von Prondzynski.

As early as 1998, the Council of Europe had recommended that member states of the EU set up the portfolio system to:

• deepen mutual understanding and respect among citizens in Europe
• protect and promote linguistic and cultural diversity
• encourage learner responsibility and learner autonomy
• promote life-long language and intercultural learning
• provide clear and transparent descriptions of competences and qualifications to facilitate mobility and personal growth

85 students are already enrolled in the European Language Portfolio at DCU, under the supervision of Veronica Crosbie, Dr Jenny Bruen and Juliette Pechenart, who intend to submit the SALIS version of the portfolio to the Council of Europe for validation.