Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment

2.
 
Rationale for the collation of descriptors taken from European Language 
Portfolios for Young Learners 
The rationale for this collation acknowledges the following key considerations:
i. 
The need for sharing of experience and transfer of knowhow between Council of 
Europe member states, regarding numerous parallel implementations of the European 
Language Portfolio for young learners since 2001.
It is important to acknowledge that such exchange of knowhow exists already across many 
contexts and domains, and the pool of written information in this area extends well beyond 
ELPs themselves to include user manuals, training programmes, learning and testing 
materials, questionnaires, reports and studies, dissertations and press releases (Schärer, 
2012). A very wide range of ELPs have been developed since the validation of ELPs ended in 
2010, and the collection of publicly available samples is so broad now that registration of new 
ELPs on the Council of Europe website also stopped in 2014 (for more information see 
www.coe.int/portfolio). This project has not set out to be a comprehensive compilation, but 
rather a selective and illustrative collation.
 
ii. 
An acknowledgement of the basis of ELP ‘Can Do’ statements in the CEFR illustrative 
scales, which should therefore be used as the organising principle for the collation and 
sharing of descriptors of language competences specific for young learners taken from 
ELP models. 
Given the challenge felt by many educators in relatin
g ELP ‘Can Do’ descriptors for self-
assessment to the outcomes of official examinations (Little, 2012), this collation can serve as 
a review of the possible links between typical ELP checklists for young learners and the 
calibrated illustrative scales, which form the basis of language examination benchmarking to 
the CEFR.