A Case Study On The Application Of Portfolio Assessment To English Writing In Senior High School

The English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School(2017)issued by the Ministry of Education not only puts forward higher requirements for students’ writing skills,but advocates multiple evaluation methods.Portfolio assessment,as one of the important forms of formative assessment,emphasizes students’ writing process,which can make teachers and students become the main participants in the process of learning and assessment.On the basis of the theory of Constructivism and the theory of Multiple Intelligences,the author applies portfolio assessment to senior high school English writing in order to answer the following two questions:1.How does portfolio assessment affect students’ English writing?2.From what aspect and to what degree does portfolio assessment affect students at different writing levels,namely,top students,average students and underachievers?The case study takes 12 senior high school students at different writing levels in a key high school in X city as research participants,which lasts for three months.Before the experiment,research participants finish a pre-test and a pre-questionnaire.During the implementation of portfolio assessment,the students are required to accomplish self-assessment checklists and peer assessment checklists after each monthly test.Then they hand in their drafts and assessment checklists to the teacher for evaluation.Finally,the students have a self-reflection and write down reflective journals.After the experiment,the students participate in a post-test,a post-questionnaire and an interview.The data are from tests,questionnaires,reflective journals and interview.Based on the analysis of quantitative data and qualitative data via Excel,conclusions can be drawn.Firstly,portfolio assessment is conducive to promoting students’ confidence and motivation in English writing and enhancing students’ self-reflection,thus improving students’ English writing proficiencies.Secondly,the average students and the underachievers gain greater improvement than the top students.And the average students and underachievers make greater progress in language expressions while the top students achieve greater progress in thinking ability.Furthermore,the author obtains the following pedagogical suggestions: First,the evaluation system should regard students as main participants.Second,writing is a process of multiple participations and interaction.Third,English writing requires the joint efforts of teachers and students.Fourth,students’ emotional factors,such as interest,confidence,motivation etc.play an important role in English writing.