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European Portfolio For Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL)

The European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) is a document created by the European Centre for Modern Languages to help students in language teacher education programs reflect on and develop their teaching skills. It contains sections for personal statements, self-assessment of competencies, and a dossier to record experiences. The EPOSTL includes 193 descriptors of teaching competencies organized into categories like context, methodology, and assessment. It is intended to support students' learning and receive feedback throughout their education and into their careers. The EPOSTL is available in several European languages and being translated into more, and it has been incorporated into teacher education programs across Europe and beyond.

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85 views4 pages

European Portfolio For Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL)

The European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) is a document created by the European Centre for Modern Languages to help students in language teacher education programs reflect on and develop their teaching skills. It contains sections for personal statements, self-assessment of competencies, and a dossier to record experiences. The EPOSTL includes 193 descriptors of teaching competencies organized into categories like context, methodology, and assessment. It is intended to support students' learning and receive feedback throughout their education and into their careers. The EPOSTL is available in several European languages and being translated into more, and it has been incorporated into teacher education programs across Europe and beyond.

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ivanaakiss
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© © All Rights Reserved
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European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL)

David Newby, Rebecca Allen, Anne-Brit Fenner, Barry Jones, Hanna Komorowska, Kristine Soghikyan
European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe

What is the EPOSTL?

The European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL) is a document intended for
students undergoing their initial teacher education which encourages them to reflect on the didactic
knowledge and skills necessary to teach languages, helps them to assess their own didactic com-
petences and enables them to monitor their progress and to record their experiences of teaching
during the course of their teacher education. The EPOSTL consists of three main sections:

 a personal statement section, to help students about to begin their teacher education to
reflect on general questions related to teaching
 a self-assessment section, which contains lists of ‘can-do’ descriptors relating to didactic
competences
 a dossier, in which students can document progress and record examples of work relevant to
their teacher education and their future profession.

The EPOSTL also includes a glossary of terms, an index and a users’ guide.

Background to the EPOSTL

The EPOSTL was developed for the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of
Europe by a team of teacher educators from five different countries (Armenia, Austria, Norway, Po-
land, UK). It arose from a project initiated by the ECML, ‘A Framework for Teacher Education’,
which had the overall aim of addressing the broad question of harmonising teacher education
across Europe.
The EPOSTL builds on existing documents already developed by the Language Policy Division of
the Council of Europe - Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and the European
Language Portfolio (ELP) as well as the European Commission-financed project European Profile
for Language Teacher Education – A Frame of Reference (European Profile).

Aims of the EPOSTL

 to encourage students to reflect on the competences a teacher strives to attain and on the un-
derlying knowledge which feed these competences;
 to help prepare students for their future profession in a variety of teaching contexts;
 to promote discussion between students and between students and their teacher educators
and mentors;
 to facilitate self-assessment of students’ competence;

European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe 1


 to help students develop awareness of their strengths and weaknesses related to teaching;
 to provide an instrument which helps chart progress.

The self-assessment descriptors

At the heart of the EPOSTL are the 193 descriptors of competences related to language teaching
which comprise the self-assessment section. These descriptors may be regarded as a set of core
competences which language teachers should strive to attain.
Each descriptor is accompanied by a bar, which helps students to visualise and chart their own
competence. Students can colour in the bar according to their own assessment. This may take
place at different stages of their teacher education.

Categories of descriptors

The descriptors are grouped into seven general categories. These represent areas in which teach-
ers require knowledge and a variety of competences and need to make decisions related to teach-
ing. Each heading has been sub-divided as follows:

European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe 2


Competence descriptors: examples

Category Competence descriptors


Context Curriculum: I can understand the requirements set in national
and local curricula.
Aims and Needs: I can take into account differing motivations for
learning another language.
The Role of the Lan- I can draw on appropriate theories of language,
guage Teacher: learning, culture etc. and relevant research find-
ings to guide my teaching.

Methodology Speaking: I can evaluate and select a range of meaningful


speaking and interactional activities to develop flu-
ency (discussion, role play, problem solving etc.).
Resources I can select and use ICT materials and activities in
the classroom which are appropriate for my
learners.
Lesson Plan- Lesson Content: I can structure lesson plans and/or plan for peri-
ning ods of teaching in a coherent and varied se-
quence of content.
Conducting a Interaction with I can cater for a range of learning styles.
Lesson Learners:
Classroom Manage- I can create opportunities for and manage indi-
ment: vidual, partner, group and whole class work.
Independent Learner Autonomy: I can help learners to reflect on and evaluate their
Learning own learning processes and evaluate the out-
comes.
Assessment of Evaluation: I can assign grades for tests and examinations us-
Learning ing procedures which are reliable and transparent.

How can the EPOSTL be used?

The EPOSTL is the property of the student teacher and is an instrument to promote professional
growth through reflection and dialogue. As such it should be seen as a means of enhancing
autonomous learning. This does not mean that the role of the teacher educator is not important: he
or she will need to provide guidance as to when and how the EPOSTL might best be used. The
EPOSTL should be made available to students at the beginning of their teacher education and it
should accompany them throughout their teacher education, teaching practice and into their pro-
fession.

The EPOSTL may be used as follows:

 It should be incorporated into existing course structures and relate to what is being taught and
learned.
 It should be used over a period of time, if possible throughout the teacher education pro-
gramme. This will help to chart progress and growth.
 It can provide support to teaching practice and assist in discussions with mentors. This will
help mentors to provide systematic feedback.
 It can serve as the springboard for discussions, topics for term papers, research pro-
jects etc.

European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe 3


Working with the EPOSTL

Draft versions of the EPOSTL were presented at two ECML workshops, attended by student teach-
ers and teacher educators from more than 30 countries. EPOSTL is now being used at a large
number of institutions across Europe and also in Asia and North and South America. In 2008 a fol-
low-up to the original EPOSTL project began at the ECML: “EPOSTL2”. The main aims of this pro-
ject are:
 to carry out empirical research projects to evaluate both quantitative and qualitative aspects of
the use of the EPOSTL 
 to support dissemination through the establishment of institutional, national and regional net-
works
 to consider how the EPOSTL may aid the task of developing teacher education curricula and
programmes and to provide support materials concerning the use of the EPOSTL in the form of
examples of good practice
 to provide an information pack on EPOSTL for stakeholders.
The results of this work will be the subject of an ECML publication to appear in 2011. Descriptions
of the ongoing projects of EPOSTL2 and contact details of EPOSTL coordinators’ in member
states can be found under http://epostl2.ecml.at/ - “National Projects”.

Where is the EPOSTL available?

English (EPOSTL), French (PEPELF), German (EPOSA) and Polish (EPS) versions of the
EPOSTL can be downloaded from the ECML website: http://epostl2.ecml.at/. A limited number of
paper copies are available from the ECML. There are no restrictions on photocopying the
EPOSTL.
Translations of the EPOSTL undertaken by member states have been published or are in pro-
gress. These include: Romanian, Italian, Lithuanian (completed); Croatian, Dutch, Greek, Russian,
Spanish (in progress).

Resources, references, links, contacts

Resources
Downloadable information about the EPOSTL is available from the ‘Resources’ section of the
EPOSTL2 homepage. This includes this handout, an article on EPOSTL and a PowerPoint
presentation.

EPOSTL/ECML
Further information on the EPOSTL: david.newby@uni-graz.at
Information on the original EPOSTL project: http://www.ecml.at/epostl
Information on the current EPOSTL project: http://epostl2.ecml.at/
ECML: www.ecml.at; information@ecml.at

CEF/ELP
Information on CEF and ELP:
http://www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-operation/education/Languages/Language_Policy/

European Profile
Kelly, M. & Grenfell, M., European Profile for Language Teacher Education – A Frame of Refer-
ence, Information at: http://www.lang.soton.ac.uk/profile/index.html

European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe 4

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