Мотрюк Н.Г.

Буковинський державний медичний університет

Portfolio as a new method of teaching English Language

Learning languages is being encouraged at present and the importance given to language learning is increasing so as to provide contemporary nations to keep up with the rapidly growing knowledge. The new approaches in the field of education direct both the teachers and the students to take active part in education. Therefore, traditional methods had to be replaced by the new ones. The system which was totally teacher-centered and in which there was only a restricted place for the students whose role was to take part as a passive receiver lost its validity.

Language teaching can only be fulfilled as a task that focuses majorly on the process rather than the product, aims at teaching communication skills and provides lifelike environments to use the language. Certainly, all these put forward how much a student learns in the evaluation process. As an alternative evaluation technique, portfolio, has emerged as a result of these tendencies, however, the ideas about the functionality of its outcomes remained restricted.

Although there are several studies made abroad, the number of studies about this subject in our country is limited. Especially, the researches on the efficacy of portfolio practice in English Language Teaching are not adequate in number. It is thought that this study will contribute to the evaluation process in language teaching.

Nowadays, the importance of teaching English increases with the speed of information exchange. The understanding of traditional language teaching has been replaced to communicative approach. It is aimed the students to use the language not only to learn the grammatical structures but also to communicate with foreign people functionally.

The innovations in language teaching have also affected evaluation process in the same way. It is seen that process based evaluation has been important in language teaching. And we see that the importance is given to process rather than the product in last approaches in language teaching [1].

Considering the transition from teacher-centered approaches to student and learning- centered approaches, it can be said that process-based approaches should be adopted in curriculum drafts. The basic hypothesis in process-based approaches is that certain skills and strategies used for understanding or producing the speech exist on the base of each language behavior. Learning environment is important because the students become aware of their abilities and potentials in learning environments. One of the process-based evaluation techniques is certainly portfolios. Constructivist approach is presented on the basis of portfolio studies.

As the student needs a construction in his/her mind for each study and activity to be placed in the portfolio. He/she reflects his/her learning to his/her studies. From this perspective, it can be said that portfolio application contributes to constructivist learning theory.

Portfolio which can be used easily in all fields at elementary and secondary level may be entitled as personal progress file, portfolio or student’s portfolio. It will be useful to mention about the definitions briefly in order to understand its contributions to language teaching.

Neiman defines portfolio assessment as a selected collection ofwork that shows not only the best work, but also the development of the individual's work over a period of time. The students are expected to be independent thinkers or produce individual solutions to problems they face [3].

Ramazan asserts that a portfolio, in aducation, stands for a kind of student-centered assessment. Unlike the traditional assessment processes, portfolio assessments enable learners to participate in the evaluation of their own works because students can decide the content of the portfolio through the given directions of the instructor [2].

In practical terms, a student portfolio for assessment purposes is a “library” of reports, papers, and other materials together with the student’s reflection on his or her learning and on strengths and weaknesses. The assessment portfolio is prepared by an individual student either at the direction of the teacher or as uniquely planned by the student. It may also contain reports of grades, evaluations, and examinations, and it is usually held together in some appropriate binder [4]. They belong to the student and can be updated as language learning continues by adding to and taking away pieces of work. So, Language Portfolios are made up of three parts:

1. The Passport

This contains factual information about the language learner. It gives a history of the learners’ language learning experiences which in this case refer to learning English. It may also contain any certificates or qualifications which show the learners’ level in an internationally transparent manner. For our young learners this may mean a certificate they received from a summer camp they attended or a qualification they got from taking an English exam at school or in any other English language centre. It may also include a ticket to a theatre production in English, a film they saw or a trip abroad to an English-speaking country.

2. The Language Biography

This is a personal history of the learners’ language learning experience. For example it may include a short narrative about the summer camp which they went on and for which they have included the certificate in their passport section.

It also includes self-assessment materials, such as the learner checklists and any aims that learners have for the future. These aims might be passing a specific exam, attending a course and feeling well prepared for it or being able to speak English to a visitor.

3. The Dossier

This is a collection of course work which shows learners’ level of English. It may include corrected class or homework, tests and exams or any other piece of work which illustrates where the learner is at. In this part of an LP, a learner may include voice or video recordings or any part of project work which they have done.

Advantages of using them are the following: they enhance learners’ motivation by providing something personal and tangible which they can build up and develop over the course; they help learners to reflect on their own learning and achievement by asking them to make choices, review, compare and organize their own work; they enable learners to look for new cultural experiences by opening their eyes to the possibilities available to them. Part of portfolio work involves ‘show and tell’ sessions where learners talk about their experiences and look at other portfolios.

From a teacher’s point of view, portfolios lead to greater learner autonomy since they involve self assessment, learner responsibility and parent involvement. Learners can work in their own time on different sections of the LP.

But there are still some disadvantages while using it. First of all with large groups the storage of portfolios can be problematic. Of course, learners can look after them themselves but this always means there are lots of students who forget or lose their portfolio. I have found it is better to store them in class and only allow them home occasionally throughout the year. In this way it means they are readily at hand for parent interviews and of course class time [2].

Secondly, as a teacher portfolios involve the provision of the folder and the organization of the contents, which can be quite time consuming. However, once I had made templates for the three sections, found an attractive folder and decided on the topic to work on, learners could work at their own pace and the sessions ran themselves.

But still, portfolios are a popular and effective way of motivating young learners, providing a fun way to review language and helping them to reflect on their own objectives, ways of learning and success. The portfolio assessment has strong educational significance. As a teacher, having reviewed the literature, I believe it can provide me with more feedback on my teaching and lot of information about students‟ learning, which are very helpful to improve my teaching. 

Furthermore, the portfolio assessment provides a more authentic assessment of students‟ achievement and comprehensive views of students‟ performances in contexts, it encourages students to develop into independent and self-directed learners, and enhances communication among teacher and students. It also can encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning, and enhance student-teacher communication.

In addition, portfolio assessment has a potential to demonstrate students’ learning process and leaning product over time. As a result, portfolio gives detailed information about students’ development in learning process to teachers, parents and students themselves.

Literature:

1. Caner, M. (2010). Students views on using portfolio assessment in EFL writing

courses. Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences.

2. Ramazan (2012). Portfolio assessment in English language teaching (ELT).

Journal of Education.

3. Serhani, W. F. A. (2007).The effect of portfolio assessment on the writing performance of EFL secondary school students in Saudi Arabia.Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: TaibahUniversity

4.Bryant, S. L. & Timmins, A. A. (2002).Portfolio assessment:instructional guide:

Using portfolio assessment to enhane student learning , second edition. Hongkong:

Hongkong Institute of Education