International Benchmarking

The Council of Europe and Language Education: Policy and Practice

A presentation to the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, November 17, 2010.

David Little, Ph.D.
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Boston, MA

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In the videos that follow, David Little discusses his involvement with the Council of Europe’s language education policies and practices. He details the philosophy that undergirds many of the EU’s initiatives and tools, the development and use of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages, and the European Language Portfolio (ELP) and Europass.

Dr. Little shares insights on learner autonomy and examples from the Irish ELP. He concludes with an explanation of the validation approach to the CEFR and the ELP and an overview of current “languages in education” projects. Viewers will gain an appreciation of the importance of learner autonomy in education and the successes and challenges around language initiatives on a broad scale.

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Introduction

Learner Autonomy

Learner Autonomy 2

CoE Projects

CoE Projects 3

Language Education Tools

CEFR Self-assessment grid

CERF Purpose

Questions & Answers 1

Questions & Answers 2

Irish ELP 1

Irish ELP 2

Irish ELP 3

Research 1

Research 2

Research 3

Questions & Answers 3 – Profiles

Questions & Answers 4

Questions & Answers 5

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Questions & Answers 6

Current Project

Validation