THE EFFECTS OF WRITING PORTFOLIOS ON STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE LEARNING AT THE TERTIARY LEVEL
YAZMA PORTFOLYOLARININ ÜNİVERSİTE ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN DİL ÖĞRENİMİNE ETKİLERİ

Author : Esim GÜRSOY -& Özge BULUT
Number of pages : 174-187

Abstract

Used as an alternative form of assessment, portfolios are a collection of students’ work, which demonstrates students’ achievement and knowledge. As a result of learner-centered methodologies and benefits associated with portfolios more and more teachers are using them for learner development and assessment. Due to this interest, the current study investigates opinions of teachers and students towards using writing portfolios in language learning classrooms at a large state university in Turkey. The study focuses on advantages, disadvantages, and effects of writing portfolios on students’ learning process. 12 teachers and 100 prep-school students contributed to the study. Survey type research design is used and data were gathered both from teachers and students’ via questionnaires. For dual and multiple comparisons Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U Tests were conducted. Both questionnaires were found reliable with .707 (teacher) and .722 (student) alpha values. The results showed that the majority of teachers have positive opinions and perceptions regarding portfolio keeping and its effects on language learning. However, the students were mostly dubious regarding the effects and benefits of portfolios. Although the research indicates a lot of advantages, some drawbacks of keeping portfolios were also identified by teachers’ and students’. The findings show that teachers think portfolios are helpful to students’ learning while students are uncertain about the effects of portfolios in learning English.

Keywords

writing portfolios, portfolio assessment, alternative assessment, language learning process

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