Portfolio Assessment for Improving Unnes Students’ English Speaking Ability

Abstract

. This study aimed at finding out the role and effectiveness of portfolio assessment in improving students’ English speaking skill. This exploratory research employed a mixed-method approach, and 175 students from 8 faculties in UNNES participated in this study. The researchers acquired the data through observation, lecturer/journal notes, and learning achievement tests. During the four separate phases, there were increase in students’ speaking, i.e. the 1 st and 2 nd daily score, the mid-term and final semester score. Improvements were also made on the five aspects of English speaking performance: fluency, pronounciation & accent, vocabulary, grammar, and detailed information. In summary, portfolio assessment improved students’ speaking learning process and highly effective for students’ English speaking skill improvement as they can see the scores by themselves hence they can measure their own progress. Portfolio assessment also potentially improves lecturers’ ability in assessing students’ speaking performance and increase student’s participation and attention towards the learning process.