An Empirical Study On The Effects Of Portfolio-based Assessment On High School Students’ English Learning Autonomy

This thesis studies empirically the application of English learning portfolio-based assessment to fostering learner autonomy in senior high school.Autonomy is an essential condition for English learners to become independent,reflecting learner-centered teaching philosophy.It is a remedy for the conventional problem of teacher-centeredness and a mirror of basic ideas "Pay close attention to the learning process,advocate experimental learning and participation,and promote learner-centeredness" in National English Curriculum Standard.English teaching practices in the current epoch are still deeply influenced by college entrance examination.English teaching is still teacher-centered,and students play a passive role in English learning and do not have autonomy to take responsibility for their own learning.Therefore,this thesis takes learner autonomy as the core and attempts to use language learning portfolios(LLP)to guide students to pay attention to the learning process and to foster English learning autonomy gradually.By reviewing previous relevant studies,the author finds out that there are mainly three approaches to learner autonomy development:training learning strategies,building self-access centers and using language learning portfolios.The former two ways are the most widely-used ones to foster learner autonomy.The third one,which is the means of language learning portfolios,is not used on a large scale and is limited only to Europe,America and some countries in Asia as Singapore.Studies on developing learner autonomy through language learning portfolios are still limited and far from enough in the mainland of China.Moreover,most of the previous research is qualitative.Based on the previous studies on learner autonomy and language learning portfolios at home and abroad,the present study adopts a mixed research approach,qualitative and quantitative approach,which is valuable and feasible.The thesis aims to explore the impact of portfolio-based assessment on learner autonomy and attempts to explore some implications for English teaching and learning.Based on the previous relevant studies and the specific context in the present study,the concept of learner autonomy is defined operationally as:1)English learning motivation;2)abilities to set goals and make plans for their English learning;3)abilities to use English learning strategies;4)abilities to monitor and evaluate English learning process.Therefore,guided by the theory of learner autonomy mainly,the following questions are studied in this thesis:(1)What are the effects of portfolio-based assessment on students’English learning motivation?(2)What are the effects of portfolio-based assessment on students’ability to set goals and make plans for their English learning?(3)What are the effects of portfolio-based assessment on students’ability to use English learning strategies?(4)What are the effects of portfolio-based assessment on students’ability to monitor and evaluate their English learning process?The present study adopted a mixed-method research method to gain both quantitative and qualitative data in the form of experiments,questionnaires,tests,learning journals,class observation and interview to explore whether language learning portfolios are effective to foster learner autonomy.The subjects were 125 students,62 students in the experimental group(EG)and 63 in the controlled group(CG),from Grade 2 of a senior school in Yibin,Sichuan Province.The author was responsible for designing,implementation and evaluation of the experiment,which lasted for a whole term,from Sep.2017 to Jan.2018.The questionnaire adopted in this study involved four variables of learner autonomy and comparisons among the variables in the pre-questionnaire and the post-questionnaire were made to testify the effectiveness of language learning portfolios.In terms of qualitative data,the author selected six students from different English levels in the experimental class and kept track of their learning process with the help of their learning journals and interviews.The controlled group went on with the previous teaching mode,without the use of language learning portfolios,interviews and learning journals.Then the data of pre-test,pre-questionnaire of EG and CG and data of post-questionnaire,learning journals,class observation and interview were collected respectively and analyzed by the means of Independent-Samples Tests,Paired-Samples Tests,Chi-Square Tests with the statistic soft SPSS 21.0.The empirical research reveals:1)The use of portfolios does promote students’ English learning interest.Students in interview state they like learning English more than before.However,their interest is still mainly from the drive of tests rather than from interest in Britain and American language and culture due to the limited experimental period of only a term.Therefore,instrumental motivation fails to be changed into integrative motivation.2)The use of portfolios is helpful for promoting students’ abilities to plan their learning.After the experiment,EG students can set long-term and short-term English learning goals according to their own learning conditions and accordingly make termly,monthly and weekly plans.3)The effects of portfolios on promoting students’ abilities to use English learning strategies are significant.After the experiment,EG students can consciously adopt learning strategies in listening,speaking,reading,and writing to a certain degree;4)The use of portfolios contributes to fostering students’ abilities to monitor and evaluate their English learning process.After the experiment,EG students can consciously assess and evaluate their learning within a certain period and made corresponding adjustments.Learning journals and group presentations have marked influence on the development of monitoring and evaluating abilities;Synthesize the changes of four sub-scales of learner autonomy,and a conclusion can be drawn that language learning portfolios have significant effects on senior high school students’ English learning autonomy on the whole.It is a rather meaningful teaching practice,hopefully providing certain guidance for future English teaching.However,the use of portfolios is relatively time-consuming and energy-consuming and students tend to get languid,which is also the limitations of the thesis.Future studies should overcome these limitations and attempt to adopt e-portfolios and offer students more convenient technical supports.