Part of the teaching method in this course is to support students in creating a ``study portfolio''. A portfolio is a collection of characteristic products which a learner makes in the course of his development; there is an analogy with the portfolio of studies which an artist develops.
Portfolio creation is an assessment technique which is currently under discussion at the European level for documenting the development of a learner from primary school through various stages; the idea is ultimately to be understood within the framework of the ``life long learning'' approach to education.
The portfolio serves to demonstrate to the learner, his teachers and his prospective employers what practical skills the learner has mastered. One of the main areas of interest at the European level is the ``language portfolio'', which demonstrates the learners skills in his own and other languages.
In the English linguistics section we have been practising this technique for many years, but not under the name `portfolio'; it is only recently that the this term has come into use. Previously we have referred to it as your `academic visiting card'.