Exploring learner autonomy through The European Language Portfolio (ELP) in Turkish context

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore learner autonomy through the implementation of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) in the fourth and fifth grades of a private school in Turkey. It also sought to investigate the implementation of the ELP in that research context by referring to the general structure of the ELP implementation together with the particular practices related to the ELP. The data for the study were collected through on-site observations in one fourth grade and one fifth grade class throughout twelve weeks, interviews with the English teachers of these classes, focus group interviews with students, audio recordings of two self-assessment sessions and artifacts collected in the research site. After writing up the observation reports and transcribing the interviews together with the audio-recordings of the self-assessment sessions, a qualitative research analysis software -N Vivo 8- was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study showed that the ELP contributed to learner autonomy in four aspects; namely in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating learning. It was also found that the ELP was implemented through five common practices; namely awareness raising, goal tracking, choosing content and creating materials, reflection and self-assessment practices. Throughout these practices, learners become aware of the goals in language learning with the help of the ELP descriptors, track their goals both in production and reception based tasks, choose the content of the oral or written materials they want to produce and create them using their own preferences, reflect on their language learning process and assess themselves with the help of descriptors in the form of ELP checklists. It has been found out that these practices lead learners towards learner autonomy by helping learners plan, implement, monitor and evaluate their learning. It has been concluded that although the implementation of the ELP can be ameliorated to allow more room for choices and decision making on the part of the learners, in that particular context implementing the ELP helped learners become more aware of their own language learning process and take active roles towards getting more involved in their own learning. The results of the study were discussed by referring to the relevant literature, and pedagogical implications were drawn.