Text 2. The effect of portfolio assessment technique on writing performance of EFL learners

Recently, Writing is receiving great interest and a significant role in second and foreign language education but teaching English L2 writing is different from other skills of language since, it is used as a support skill in language learning (Reid, 2002). The method of teaching English writing in language classes have been shifting from traditional way of the end product to the process of creating writing. By such an emphasis on writing process, students learn how to develop their writing, who to solve the problems and how to think critically. However, it is somehow difficult to evaluate this new method of writing via traditional assessment techniques such as timed impromptu writing test. Therefore new ways of assessment have been developed to demonstrate what students learn and what they can do with their own knowledge. These new ways of assessment are called "authentic" or " alternative" measures. Among all the procedures of alternative assessment, portfolio has become a popular technique, currently. Portfolios show students' progress, achievement and self–reflection in one or more areas (Paulson & Paulson, 1991).

Portfolio assessment is an ongoing process. It does no evaluate progress and performance of the learners through an impromptu paper and pencil test or enable instructors evaluating their student's performances within a very short and limited period of time. According to Gosselin (1998) an ongoing assessment is a learning process that examines and document learner progress at a certain intervals. The main goals of portfolio assessment are encouraging learners to become more autonomous, take the control of their learning, make decisions, participate in the evaluation of their own work and solve the problem they may face, individually.

Although students' active participation is vital during the portfolio assessment process, the teacher is the key to the successful use of such strategy (Neimon, 1999).According to Espstein (2005) portfolio assessment transform the role the teacher away from generating comparative rankings of achievement and toward improving student achievement through evaluation feedback and self-reflection.

Despite of its popularity, using writing portfolios is not so common in EFL contexts. At the end of the term, students are commonly given numerical grades for their writing assignment which is a product-oriented approach and may not be an appropriate indicator for the student writing ability and teacher may not be able to make a good judgment about their development as writers. Thus, applying portfolio as an alternative assessment technique instead of a traditional impromptu writing test may help teachers to make better judgment about students' writing ability.

(Source: Omid Tabatabaei, Farzaneh Assefi (2012).The effect of portfolio assessment technique on writing performance of EFL learners. English Language Teaching Vol. 5, No. 5, 138-147.)