Session Information
09 SES 04 C, Assessing Foreign Language Competencies
Paper Session
Contribution
The aim of this study was to find out if students think that keeping an audiovisual portfolio helps them improve their speaking skills. With this aim the study addressed the following reseach question:
Do students think that keeping an audiovisual porfolio has improved their speaking skills?
In recognition of the different styles each learner brings to the learning process, there has been a shift over the past two decades from standardized tests, mostly scored either by teachers or by machines, to alternative assessments. This change suggests that it could be more useful to involve students in the assessment process by giving them an opportunity to undertake some responsibilities for their own learning (Brown, 1998). Considering the benefit of involving students in the assessment process, many institutions are beginning to use portfolios as a tool of authentic assessment in congruent with their objectives, curricula, and instruction. Because of the differences in the instruction and the needs of each institution, researchers as well as practitioners have been unable to reach to an agreement on the ideal components or format of a portfolio (O'Malley & Pierce, 1996). In the past, portfolios were prepared in paper form; however, as technology has become more integrated into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, some universities have begun to include electronic portfolios and video and/or audio portfolios in their curricula to take advantage of these technological advances. This use of technology as an evaluator has been particularly true when it comes to improving language learners’ oral skills (Wang & Chang, 2010).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Brown, J. D. (1998). New ways of classroom assessment. Bloomington, Illinois, USA: TESOL. O' Malley, M., & Pierce, L. V. (1996). Authentic assessment for English language learners: Practical approaches for teachers. USA: Addison- Wesley. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Thomas, D.R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237-246. Wang, L. J., & Chang, H. F. (2010). Applying innovation method to assess English speaking performance on communication apprehension. Belt Journal, 1(2), 147-158. Retrieved from http://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/ojs/index.php/belt/article/viewFile/8218/6489
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.