A Comparative Perspective of Portfolio-based Writing Assessment

DING, Peng

School of Foreign Languages， Shandong University of Technology， 255000

Abstract： Portfolios are one of the alternatives that can be used for writing assessment. This article analyzes the limitations of traditional writing assessment and the advantages of portfolio-based writing assessment. It can be seen that portfolio-based assessment provides a powerful mechanism for promoting learning for student writers and for teachers.

Key words： Portfolio， writing， assessment

1. Introduction

Since the mid-1980s， there has been an escalating interest in portfolio as educators have been increasingly dissatisfied with the traditional assessment measures. Portfolio then has been recognized as an alternative assessment by many practitioners， in writing assessment in particular. Teachers who use this strategy in their classrooms have shifted their emphasis away from comparisons of achievement to improving student achievement through evaluative feedback and self-reflection.

2. Writing assessment

2.1. The nature of writing

According to the “l(fā)earn-by-doing” philosophy， the only way to learn to write is by writing and the only way the learner will improve writing is by working to make actual written products better. （Hamp-Lyon & Condon， 2000）.The recognition of writing as a process was a byproduct of communicative language teaching， which emphasizes learner-centered instruction， peer negotiation and strategy-based instruction. Another issue in the teaching of writing surrounds the question： how much of our classroom writing is “real” writing？ Real writing refers to the writing when the reader doesn’t know the answer and the information wanted. In the traditional way of assessing writing， writing is primarily display of a student’s knowledge.

2.2. Limitations of traditional writing assessment

As Weighs （2002） has pointed out the two major limitations of traditional writing assessments. First， the writing to be assessed is often done under time pressure and the writer， most of time， is unfamiliar with the topic， which does not fit the settings when writing is taught and practiced in the classroom. As a result， the test result is less reliable due to that the situation under which students are tested or assessed does not go with that when they are taught. Then， it is impossible to predict students’ performance from a single writing sample to the broader concept of writing in different genres and settings to serve various purposes and audiences. Teachers cannot get an overall picture of a student’s writing proficiency unless the teacher looks at several samples produced on different occasions in several genres.

2.3 Portfolio assessment & writing portfolio

Portfolio assessment has been considered as an alternative approach to writing assessment that can allow much broader inferences to reflect students writing ability than what the traditional single-shot approach to evaluate writing can fulfill. （Weighs， 2007）. In this sense， portfolio appeared to resolve the validity problem of using one or at most two impromptu writing samples， the absence of opportunities for the writer to revise. Moreover， portfolios offer opportunity to collect writing over a period of time， by which the longitudinal approach increases the validity of the assessment. Also it minimizes the possibility that students’ untypical information collected and allows for an examination of students’ growth in a number of critical areas of their knowledge base.

Portfolios can accommodate and foster extensive revision， support teaching， be used to encourage students to take responsibility for their own writing and offer much increased validity over an extended period of time by offering a variety of writing samples. Moreover， assessment criteria of portfolio seem less arbitrary when it is applied to a single and impromptu piece. Furthermore， portfolio is a “powerful meta-cognitive act—thinking about thinking—that no other assessment device include”. Theoretically， the role of the portfolio plays in developing self-assessment through reflection is a key difference between the consequences of portfolio-based assessment and other forms of assessment （Hamp-Lyon & Condon， 2000）. Writing portfolio provides students with rich opportunities for teachers to know their writing and thoughts well by starting dialogues with teachers， which ultimately contributes to improvement in writing and the harmonious teacher-student relationship.

3. Conclusion

In general， portfolios provide a better method of collecting data and concurrently a powerful mechanism for promoting learning for student writers and for teachers who bear responsibility for curriculum at any level.

References

[1]Hamp-Lyons， L.， & Condon， W. （2000）. Assessing the portfolio： Principles for practice， theory， and research. Cresskill： Hampton Press.

[2]Weigh， S. （2007）. Teaching writing teachers about assessment. Journal of Second Language Writing， 16（3）， 194-209.

作者單位：School of Foreign Languages， Shandong University of Technology