An Empirical Study Of Portfolio-based Assessment In EFL Writing

This thesis reports an empirical study which explores the effectiveness of portfolio assessment in EFL students'writing. The research questions are:a) Are there any differences between the portfolio-based writing assessment (PBWA) group and the non-PBWA group in terms of writing motivation? b) Are there any differences between the experimental group and the non-PBWA group in terms of writing strategy? c) Are there any differences between the experimental group and the non-PBWA group in terms of writing products (writing scores)?The PBWA project was implemented among 125 sophomores of four classes from the School of Mechanical Engineering in Shandong University, two identified as the experimental group and the other two as the controlled group. The project lasted for a whole semester. During the project, students in the experimental group were required to implement self-assessment and peer-assessment to their writing pieces according to the rating criteria. To examine the effects of PBWA on writing development, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative research. Multiple types of data were collected in the beginning, middle and at the end of the semester, including quantitative data from English writing motivation and strategy questionnaires and writing measurement, and qualitative data from interviews with the six selected students and reflective essays in their portfolios. Quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS 17.0. Qualitative data were analyzed through the procedure of protocol analysis.The study has the following major findings:Firstly, PBWA helped to increase EFL learners'writing motivation and to improve their writing strategy. Secondly, PBWA facilitated learners'growth of EFL writing ability on the whole. Thirdly, PBWA was welcomed by non-English majors since students tended to treat it as a better means of assessment and an effective tool of learning, though they looked at it just as a container of essays at the beginning of the project. Therefore, this study tentatively concludes that on the whole, PBWA had a positive impact on the growth of Chinese non-English major students'writing ability.This thesis also proposes some implications for English teaching and learning in Chinese context. Meanwhile, the limitations of the study are summarized and correspondingly the suggestions for future studies are provided with the hope of paving the way for more studies.