Intercultural encounters and the European Language Portfolio (ELP): Some thoughts on the development of the intercultural dimension of the LOLIPOP-ELP and its potential role in language teaching and learning

Abstract

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) is a language learning tool developed by the Council of Europe (CoE) and intended to support the development of both linguistic skills and intercultural competence in the user. It has to date, however, been used primarily in the development of linguistic abilities . This paper presents an online ELP, the LOLIPOP-ELP , which contains an enhanced intercultural dimension. It also discusses ways in which this ELP could be used to develop intercultural competence in the language classroom. The first section of this paper outlines the background to the ELP Initiative and goes on to describe the portfolio itself and its constituent elements. The second section presents the German version of the LOLIPOP-ELP with a particular focus on its intercultural dimension. Finally, the paper concludes with some remarks regarding the use of the LOLIPOP-ELP in developing intercultural competence in the language undergraduate