A portfolio is a large, thin, flat case for loose sheets of paper such as drawings or maps. Or is it still? Nowadays, a portfolio refers to a collection of artworks, projects, or anything that showcases someone’s abilities or expertise in a field. For IBDP students, aka “learners,” who study Language A, a portfolio is “a central element” of the course and is “mandatory.” Some other subjects treat the portfolio more seriously as an assessment, but this is not the case for Language A.
Some teachers guide their students and help them collect and organize all their assignments throughout the course, making their portfolio ready for the final days. Many schools also use the portfolio to determine the predicted grade for Language A. These works can range from a letter to a politician, to an infographic that you design in response to a speech, to a literary analysis of an excerpt from a novel. Written and visual works that the student produces in response to literary and non-literary texts studied during the course are what make up the portfolio.
Schools and teachers who keep the students informed about processes and assessments introduce and explain all about this supplementary part of the final assessments early in the course. Some others prefer to share a list of “expected” works and some samples for each piece toward the end of the course. And the remaining group probably remembers that such a thing exists and gives the students a deadline of two days to prepare. Whatever the environment you experience, it is wise to start thinking about it from the early days, which are hopefully now that you are reading this post.
Common “expected” works to be included in a Language A Learner Portfolio are letters, blog posts, infographics, posters, pastiches, and short essays. However, you can virtually expect any text type to be expected of you, as at the end of the day, it is your teacher who determines how your portfolio should be collected, organized, and presented.
It might be interesting to know that probably nobody will ever take a look at your portfolio, including your teacher or anyone from the school’s administration. It is also a rare event for anyone from the IB organization to check a student’s Language A portfolio. But this does not mean that you should just carelessly patch something together and submit it to your school. If you are the kind of student who is aiming for a full seven, you are already working hard on each assignment and can find a couple of good ones to present, maybe after a bit of polishing.
For designing infographics, posters, and pastiches, you can look up some examples online and use free online design tools like Canva to create visually pleasing artworks in no time. And as for the written works, you will write many texts of different types throughout the course that you can choose from and adjust, even with a bit of help from AI, for the topics asked by your teacher.
These tips are, of course, for those students who are sadly left alone with a scary deadline in front of them in the middle of IAs and preparations for papers 1, 2, 3, 4, and you name it. If you need help with or have any questions about IBDP Language A and its assessments, get in touch with us.
IB Learner Portfolio
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