The Application Of Portfolio Assessment To English Writing Teaching In Senior High Schools

In China, listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four basic skills ofEnglish learning. And the cultivation and improvement of writing skill are on the basisof listening, speaking, and reading. It not only requires that students should not onlyhave the good mastery of English language, but also be equipped with abilities ofimagination, expression, and evaluation, etc. With the development of English teachingreform and the New Senior High School English Curriculum Standards, writing isbecoming one of the important tasks both in English learning and teaching. Also,writing is one of the parts that accounts for the largest proportions of all the items instudent’s college entrance examination. However, there are some problems existing inthe teaching and learning of English writing. Both the teachers and students are notsatisfied with the performance and ability of students’ English writing.In order to solve the problems that exist in English writing teaching and learning,the author attempts to apply the portfolio assessment to English writing. This thesisintends to find out the answers to the following questions:1. Can the portfolio assessment better motivate the students to write more activelyand have more interest in English writing?2. Can the portfolio assessment better improve the students’ abilities of self-reflection as well as English writing?3. Can the portfolio assessment better help teachers to overcome the problemsthey have in their writing teaching process, then to improve the teaching quality?The research results show that firstly the portfolio assessment can effectivelyenhance students’ participation in English writing, as well as improving their abilitiesof self-assessment and self-reflection. Secondly, the English writing portfolioassessment is an ongoing process in which the students can obtain more knowledgeand information to improve their English writing ability by showing, evaluating,reflecting and revising their own compositions. Thirdly, through those materials, theEnglish teacher can fully know the present writing situation of different students.Moreover, the English teacher may attach importance to explaining the problems ofstudents’ writings on the basis of those writing materials so as to improve the teachingquality of English writing.