The European Language Portfolio (ELP) for the Higher Education sector of the ELC conforms to the common Principles and Guidelines of the Council of Europe, as do all the ELP versions that have been developed for a variety of target groups and contexts in various countries and languages It therefore consists of three parts (the Language Passport, the Language Biography and the Dossier) and it is at the same time an information tool and a companion to language learning. It enables all language proficiency (acquired within or outside formal educational settings) and intercultural experience to be presented in a comprehensible, complete, and internationally comparable way. It also contains guidelines for reflecting on one's own language learning and for planning and monitoring further learning.

In addition, this Portfolio, in each of its parts, also takes into account, the specific field of language learning and usage in higher education and beyond.

In its introduction, besides showing the advantages for learners, (in this case students and the academic body), teachers and employers it also highlights the advantages for educational institutions in the area of higher education, e.g. faculties, departments, language institutes, language centres, and self-study centres, those responsible for mobility programmes and admissions officers.

The section entitled Language Passport and Documents contains the Council of Europe's Standard Language Passport for Adults, together with a supplementary form which gives an overview of language and intercultural experience in the context of higher education studies. Tools are also available showing how to supplement the statements with additional, internationally comparable, information, and to document the various more informal language learning experiences.

The Language Biography aims to encourage reflective learning. It helps learners to document and reflect on previous language learning, intercultural experience, and learning processes, to assess their own language skills, to set learning goals, and to plan and monitor future learning. Besides general language descriptors, the Self-assessment Checklists also include specific descriptors for the linguistic skills required in order to study in the higher education sector, as from the B1 level. There is, in addition, a specific worksheet for mobility stays which should help students to develop intercultural communication skills, thereby facilitating integration into the social and academic life of the host country.

The Dossier consists of a Working Dossier, (containing examples of work which constitute an on-going record of progress in learning), and a Dossier for Presentation, composed of selected examples of work chosen for a specific purpose (e.g., application for a job, for university admission, or for a post-graduate post). The aim of the Dossier as a whole is to encourage students to keep work samples of all their language learning and intercultural experience including those that have been produced during their studies.

In each of the three parts the specific higher education learning context and relevant use of language is systematically treated, and each part includes suggestions for use, with concrete examples.

Brigitte Forster Vosicki, University of Lausanne