EPortfolios are tools used to foster teachers' CPD.
In the course of my studies at university, I wrote some portfolios that have been helpful for reflecting my own learning processes. The following reflection is part of a portfolio that was used for evaluative purposes. Through this reflection I was supposed to show my personal development as a result of the course focusing on the use of learners' first languages in the foreign language classroom. During the course I changed my approach towards the role of students' first languages which is documented in this reflection (extract from my portfolio):
Reflection
The question about the role of the L1 in foreign language classrooms concerns students, future teacher and teachers in practice, but in fact, it oftentimes seems to remain an issue, that is not discussed in enough detail. Consequently, the L1 as a linguistic resource tends to remain unused in many teaching scenarios, even though recent reflections show that the guided and structured use may lead to a better learning outcome. My own reflection upon my development as a language learner, language student and future language teacher has made me aware of the fact that I needed a course that focuses on the role of the L1 in English language teaching to start reflecting upon widely spread assumptions that I have simply taken for granted. Thus, in my previous experience as a language learner as well as a language student I have never reflected upon the advantages of using the L1 in language teaching for reasons that will be explained in the following part. Having experienced the realization of the strict monolingual principle (cf. chapter 1) as a high school student and having been taught by English teachers who strictly encouraged us to only use English in class (from grade seven onwards) I assumed that the exclusive use of the target language must be advantageous for reaching a high proficiency level in this language and, in any case, it seemed logical that a high exposure to the foreign language would be beneficial for the development of extensive language skills that cover a wide range of competences needed for the successful communication in the foreign language. My assumptions were reinforced by my experiences as an exchange student in the United States. In 10th grade I had the opportunity to stay with an American host family for a month and attend class in an American high school. During this month I was, as expected, highly exposed to the English language and since my host family did not speak any other languages apart from English, I was forced to communicate in English in various everyday situations. Even though I was not very comfortable communicating in the target language with native speakers in the beginning of my stay in the U.S., it did not take long until I started to feel more confident and after only one month I felt like I had improved my communicative language skills more than I ever did in the same amount of time of English classes in Germany. Based on this experience I realized that the high exposure to the target language and the immersion in the culture of the foreign language support the development of communicative language skills immensely. Between the end of my time as a high school student and the beginning of my studies at university, I spent a year in New Zealand, staying with a host family and working as an Au Pair. This was the second experience that made me realize how language teaches itself to a high extent when one is immersed into the language culture and therefore exposed to it on a daily basis. Later on, I decided to study English and French to become a teacher. During my studies I became familiar with the curricula for foreign language teaching, amongst others with the latest Fachanforderungen. Since the official policies for the use of the English language in the EFL classroom only implicitly state that the L1 may be used in certain situations while teaching a foreign language (cf. chapter 1), my point of view that goes along with the monolingual principle has not been challenged at all in the course of my studies as a Bachelor student. It was rather intensified by teachers and lecturers at university that were following the monolingual principle in a very strict way and banned the L1 from their classrooms. In contrast, some teachers included the German language for organizational matters, but the main language used remained the target language. Accordingly, this approach in practice at university resembles the second theoretical position introduced in the theoretical part (cf. chapter 1). In contrast though, my well-established assumption that the monolingual principle is the principle to be applied in the EFL classrooms has been challenged by experiences gained as a student of French. Most of my French classes at university are taught in German (practical language classes excluded). I asked myself why there is a significant difference between the language culture established in English at university and the one in French and I still do not have a logical or plausible answer. In my opinion, the elaboration in the theoretical part (cf. chapter 1) and the reflections on the use of the L1 in the foreign language classroom that will follow in this chapter, should be relevant for any foreign language class regardless of what language is spoken. Nonetheless, the observation that the language culture in French language classes differs to the one that is established in most English-speaking classes was confirmed during my internship. I gained many insights during my practical training at a high school in Neumünster while observing different language classes. Due to the observation of differences between the teachers in regard to their use of the L1 and L2, I payed in particular attention to the characteristics of the student-teacher communication in the foreign language classroom. The student-teacher communication is naturally dependent on the proficiency level of the students but also on the language culture established by the individual teachers. Remarkably, the majority of English classes were English-only classes which means that the students first language was completely banned from the classroom. Some teachers allowed switching to German in case the students did not know certain expressions in the foreign language, but I could not observe a systematic use of the L1. I asked the teacher of a 12th grade about his point of view on the use of the L1 in his English classes and he explained that he supports the exclusive use of the L2 in the foreign language classroom. Some of his 12th grade students tended to speak German in class, especially when talking about private matters that were not related to the lesson, but the teacher always kindly asked them to only speak English. He told me that he follows the same principle while teaching classes of a low proficiency level and regarded this principle as the most effective one. In contrast, a French teacher that taught a 6th and a 9th grade in French during my internship advised me to be more open towards the use of the L1 in French classes. She mainly used German teaching French in the 6th grade while the amount of French used in the 9th grade was higher, but still lower than the amount of the foreign language spoken in any of the English classes. I made a similar observation attending the French class of another teacher in the 11th grade. It should be mentioned at this point that one of the French teachers was very consequent in her use of the foreign language. She used French only, but allowed code-switches and code-switched herself especially to socialize with her students. Accordingly, I have come across different approaches towards foreign language teaching with regard to the role of the L1, but these different approaches have not changed my personal opinion at all. Due to some experiences described above, I was convinced the exposure to the target language should be maximized and therefore, I was an advocate for the second position described in the theoretical part (cf. chapter 1) which promotes the exclusion of the L1 with small concessions that are unavoidable. The course on the theoretical and practical perspectives on the use of the learners’ first language in English language teaching had an impact on my prior understanding of the role of the L1 in English language teaching, because I actually started for the first time to challenge my previous assumptions and to really reflect upon the role of the L1 and as a result, I agree on the assumption that the L1 naturally plays a role in foreign language learning and consequently also in foreign language teaching. It is true that a high exposure to the language or even the immersion into the foreign language culture are the most important means for efficient language learning, but the scenario in the EFL classroom is different and I agree on the point that the L1 is a rich linguistic resource that influences the L2 acquisition in any case and should therefore be included explicitly and systematically in foreign language classes. As I have tried to point out in my teaching scenario, I believe that a language culture needs to be established early on in the EFL classroom. This language culture should be marked by a consistent language use and it should include the intentional and systematic use of the L1 whenever it seems appropriate and beneficial for the second language acquisition. After all, the course will have consequences on my future behavior as a language teacher. I will consistently use the target language in class to provide my students with the highest exposure to the target language possible, but I will try to encourage their active participation and to support their communicative contributions by allowing them to use lexical items from their L1 if necessary provided that they afterwards discover the equivalent in the target language, e.g. by using the sandwich method (cf. chapter 1 and 2.1.). It will be most important that they try to communicate in the target language early in their development as language users and that they learn how they can keep a communication going even if they cannot express what they are willing to express in the foreign language (cf. floor-holding function of code-switching as described in chapter 1). I still expect difficulties in regard to the practical implementation of these theoretical resolutions, because especially young students who just started learning the language may have high psychological barriers when they first start to communicate in the foreign language and they may tend to rely heavily on their L1. Additionally, I think that individual variation between the proficiency levels of students in one class may cause difficulties, because the individual strengths and weaknesses would vary when students with different levels of previous knowledge are first confronted with the complex requirements that the learning of a foreign language includes. Nonetheless, I have the intention to pay particular attention to these aspects and to the issue of the role of the L1 in general during my next internship. I believe that feedback from the students is always a good method for enriching one’s own reflections upon the language use in class and its efficiency. To sum it up, this course has challenged my previous assumptions regarding the role of the L1 in foreign language teaching. Having read various essays and the results of different studies in this regard as well as discussing different issues in class has helped me reflecting upon the role of the L1. As a result I have adapted my own attitude towards the use of the L1 in class towards a rather bilingual approach.
This is a reflection that is still hepful for me, because it documents my learning process and shows an advance in my professional development. However, I only had some criteria for evaluation beforehand and I did not have detailed information about how to document my learning process in an effective way and which tools for reflective practices to use. The following information will help me for my future reflective practices and it will especially focus on the specific features of ePortfolios.
EPortfolio
Portfolios focus on a process and not on a product. They are a means of self-regulation and give the user the chance to be creative and document the individual learning process.
Reflections are an important aspect of portfolios.
EPortfolios are advantageous since they are multimodal and allow for interaction with other users. Therefore, they initiate not only self-reflection, but also reflective practices together with peers or colleagues. Many ePortfolios give readers the options to directly comment on entries and give feedback which is an important means of fostering CPD.
Structure of an ePortfolio
- starting point:
Who am I? Where am I going? What are my goals in regard to this course?
The starting point of a portfolio aims at raising self-consciousness. Expectations, beliefs and assumptions are exposed and may be challenged later in the learning process. It should be related to reflective practice that is later on performed in a reflective cycle.
- learning evidence:
What is it about? In which moment of the learning process did it happen? What was done with it?
Learning evidence is anything that documents the learning process and the achievement of a sub-goal or a goal. The reflection on an evidence should answer the question what I have learned, which skills have been improved and what this learning process has been useful for. The evidence can represent a process including reflections about this process (what was good, what could be improved next time?). They should be relevant (meaningful and valid) for my personal development. Overall, learning evidences link theory and practice and they make me aware of my CPD.
- closing phase:
The final reflection should be an overall reflection upon the learning process documented in the ePortfolio and it should include a future action plan. The difficulty lies in developing a reflective summary of a highly complex learning process. Goals may have to be reformulated for future learnig processes.
Reflective practice and professional development documented in an ePortfolio
- reflective practice as means of developing "from the inside" (--> CPD)
- teacher cognition
(pre-experiences as learners influence our way of understanding teaching and learning practices)
--> reflection upon own pre-understandings necessary before finding other perspectives that can enrich own perspective
- systematise reflections --> follow a reflective cycle (different phases)
- knowledge about instruments that can be used to support systematic reflections
(ePortfolio as umbrella in which results of reflections can be implemented)
EPortfolios foster digital communicative competencies
In order to be able to make use of and promote online interaction, I have to develop communicative and digital competencies.
While writing my ePortfolio I have to include features of hypertextuality, multimodality and interactivity.
EPortfolios for evaluative purposes
Every ePortfolio serves either self-assessment or teacher-assessment. The assessment depends on the goal of the portfolio.
Formative and summative evaluations are two different types of assessment. The former accompanies the learning process and includes frequently given feedback while the latter refers to feedback given in the end of a process.
Personally, I feel like writing my own ePortfolio has supported my learning process and thus, contributed to my learning outcomes. Writing the ePortfolio allows for creativity and can be adapted to the personal needs.
.png)
Kommentare