Using Portfolio Assessment to Enhance Reflective Writing in EFL Classrooms

Abstract

There has been an increasing interest on research which documents the significance of portfolios in foreign language instruction in general and teaching writing in particular. The primary focus of the current work is to explore the effectiveness of portfolio assessment in developing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ reflective writing. In order to fulfill this objective, an experimental research design was conducted. The sample was composed of one hundred second year students of English at the University of Laghouat-Algeria. The data were collected through the following experimental tools: Interview, Pre-Post Writing Tests, and Pre/Post Self-Reporting Questionnaires. Students were asked to write about ten reflective topics which are drawn from their own experiences. The main findings demonstrated that reflective writings of students were improved after the use of portfolio assessment method and which confirms that portfolio assessment stratagem has significant effects in developing students’ reflective writing in terms of both process and product. And henceforth; this research suggests that portfolio assessment keeping deserves to be taken into consideration in the curriculum of EFL Teaching Departments in Algeria.