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Sustainable language learning and ePortfolio application

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Published/Copyright: May 8, 2024
Language Learning in Higher Education
From the journal Language Learning in Higher Education Volume 14 Issue 1

Abstract

Adapting engineering education to a sustainable ESP (English for Special Purposes) training and competence-based education requires dedicated effort. Although active learning methodologies are commonly utilised in Higher Education institutions, there remains a need for enhanced curricular coordination and coherence. To address this, we are investigating the latest syllabus updates by introducing and verifying a valuable and student-friendly tool – an electronic portfolio in English. We view the ePortfolio as a comprehensive platform to facilitate students’ academic and professional growth, as well as their development of competences. This quasi-experimental study utilised a pre-/post-training trial design and nonrandomised control group to investigate the implementation of ePortfolios. During the diagnostic assessment, the first questionnaire allowed students to express their ideas regarding their competences, portfolio understanding, ESP and professional growth. The second was used to determine the undergraduates’ learning outcomes and perceptions after three months of training. There was a significant increase in learners’ support of several types of transversal competences, whereas some other competences appeared to be declining. This indicates that the ePortfolio tool stimulated a fresh process of self-reflection among the students. Our research focuses on examining the creation of the ePortfolio in the context of an ESP course to integrate technical students’ reflections on capacity building and advanced professional development in English.

Keywords: engineering education; English for specific purposes; ePortfolio; professional identity; sustainable competence-based education
Corresponding author: Oksana Polyakova, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain, E-mail:

Funding source: Universitat Politècnica de València

Award Identifier / Grant number: PIME/23-24/380 “Sostenible_Edu”

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-0022).

Received: 2023-09-02
Accepted: 2024-03-04
Published Online: 2024-05-08
Published in Print: 2024-05-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. INTRODUCTION: Worldwide voices of experience in language education
  4. Research Articles
  5. Teaching note-taking in EMI: an experimental study in Economics and Business Administration
  6. Japanese EFL undergraduate students’ use of the epistemic modal verbs may, might, and could in academic writing
  7. The impact of ChatGPT on learners in English academic writing: opportunities and challenges in education
  8. An investigation into the relationship between attitudinal and non-attitudinal variables and the utilization of digital technology: the EFL Vietnamese context
  9. Verbal engagement strategies in Iranian Teachers’ talk: Instagram teaching context
  10. Sustainable language learning and ePortfolio application
  11. Learning Chinese and making meaning – ways to develop intercultural citizenship in the foreign language classroom
  12. Investigating Chinese university students’ foreign language enjoyment and anxiety in the EFL class
  13. Exploring EFL instructors’ perceptions, conceptual awareness, and actual practices about gamification: an exploratory case study in a Turkish state university
  14. Harmonious learning: songs in English for ESP
  15. Training attitudes of primary school foreign language teachers
  16. Language learning strategies in focus: exploring their utilization by college student-athletes
  17. Which components of word knowledge do EFL learners learn?
https://doi.org/10.1515/cercles-2023-0022
Keywords for this article
engineering education; English for specific purposes; ePortfolio; professional identity; sustainable competence-based education

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction
  3. INTRODUCTION: Worldwide voices of experience in language education
  4. Research Articles
  5. Teaching note-taking in EMI: an experimental study in Economics and Business Administration
  6. Japanese EFL undergraduate students’ use of the epistemic modal verbs may, might, and could in academic writing
  7. The impact of ChatGPT on learners in English academic writing: opportunities and challenges in education
  8. An investigation into the relationship between attitudinal and non-attitudinal variables and the utilization of digital technology: the EFL Vietnamese context
  9. Verbal engagement strategies in Iranian Teachers’ talk: Instagram teaching context
  10. Sustainable language learning and ePortfolio application
  11. Learning Chinese and making meaning – ways to develop intercultural citizenship in the foreign language classroom
  12. Investigating Chinese university students’ foreign language enjoyment and anxiety in the EFL class
  13. Exploring EFL instructors’ perceptions, conceptual awareness, and actual practices about gamification: an exploratory case study in a Turkish state university
  14. Harmonious learning: songs in English for ESP
  15. Training attitudes of primary school foreign language teachers
  16. Language learning strategies in focus: exploring their utilization by college student-athletes
  17. Which components of word knowledge do EFL learners learn?
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