Fostering engagement with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the European Language Portfolio: Learning from good practice in university language centres

Abstract

This article begins with a brief overview of the aims and activities of the CercleS CEFR/ELP Focus Group. It goes on to report on some of the outcomes of the 2015 CercleS CEFR/ELP seminar hosted by the Centre for Language and Communication Studies at Trinity College Dublin. The five examples presented during the seminar’s plenary sessions are summarised, illustrating how the CEFR and ELP have been used in university language centres both to foster student engagement and reflection and to meet the increasingly urgent need for benchmarking language learning outcomes in higher education.