How do EFL Learners Perceived Portfolio Assessment

Abstract

Assessment is a difficult issue for language teachers, and involves a number of factors, including the selection of an appropriate instrument to assess students' learning progress and outcome. In addition, although educators usually attempt to quantify students' learning, language learning can be complicated and thus, a learner's progress is often never assessed (Jacobson, Sleicher, & Maureen, 1999). Moreover, many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers often experience great challenges when evaluating their students' speaking ability, especially since several critical issues are involved, i.e. fluency, accuracy of grammatical structure, and pronunciation. Specifically, one critical area centers on components of the language, such as vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, but these do not necessarily reflect learners' English communication ability (Bowen, Madsen, & Hilferty, 1985). However, research (Chung, Wu, & Ku, 2004., Gredler, 1995) has shown that portfolio assessment is one of the most effective evaluation methods for overcoming this concern in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom.According to Paulson, Paulson, and Meyer (1991), a portfolio is a systematic and purposeful collection of student work that displays students' learning progress, efforts, and achievements. In addition, it consists of a wide variety of materials, such as teacher notes, student videotapes of individual or group projects, retelling story tapes, etc (Valencia, 1990). For ESL learners, instructors could use portfolios as an alternative assessment approach to evaluate students' language learning progress. Most importantly, unlike other assessments, portfolio assessments do not exclude certain student populations that are based on their language level (Baker, Freeman, & Clayton, 1991). This paper discusses how EFL learners perceive portfolio assessment. In addition, other issues such as how to involve students' in class portfolio assessments, as well as efficacious grading concerning the EFL learners' portfolio will be addressed. Research results provided empirical data as evidence to proof how English language instructors can use portfolio assessment as an alternative assessment in the EFL teaching environment.