From Action to Insight: A Professional Learning Community's Experiences with the European Language Portfolio

This paper focuses on an action research project set in the context of one professional learning community‟s (PLC‟s) exploration of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP). Teachers of second and foreign languages in a large urban high school examined the potential of principles and tools related to the CEFR and ELP and shared their experiences during PLC meetings. This study examines data collected as part of the PLC discussions and deliberations and presents two particular pedagogical results emerging from this work: the development of a philosophical stance and an action plan. The paper concludes with a discussion of the process in which teachers engaged as they co-constructed understanding and explored pedagogical implications of their professional dialogue.