Documenting the curriculum: Process and competence in a learning portfolio

Paper given at the British Council 20th National Conference for Teachers of English - Venice, 15-17 March 2001

Recent debates on curriculum change have tended to emphasize the end-product (competence) rather than the process which makes that product achievable. The idea of a language portfolio, put forward by the Council of Europe, is a good opportunity to develop a self-standing learning portfolio, evidence of  both students´ competence-in-progress and of their emerging personal profile as language learners.

Implementing language and cross-curricular portfolio projects:  Some pedagogical implications

(Perspectives, a Journal of TESOL-Italy - Vol. XXVII, No. 2, Spring 2001)

Implementing a portfolio project can be an example of promising innovation in learning, teaching and assessment if it prompts us and our students to set clear targets, set up, carry out and assess meaningful learning experiences, and build up and regularly update learner profiles.