The Application Of Portfolio Assessment To Primary School English Teaching

According to the English Curriculum Standard(2012 version),in English teaching,teachers should reinforce the guidance about students’ effective learning strategies and put forward to develop their autonomous learning ability.In the classroom assessment,teachers should try their best to involve more people and more social groups to participate in,and increase the forms and contents of assessment.Teachers should highly focus on the development process of students’ comprehensive language competence,and concern the changes and progress of their learning motivation,learning beliefs and learning strategies during the whole learning process.Most of the assessment methods used in primary schools in China are summative assessment based on standardized tests.This kind of assessment method takes the test result as the only criteria to measure students’ learning outcomes,which can easily trigger students’ unilateral pursuit of grades in exam.Under this circumstance,students’ learning motivation may be reduced,and test anxiety may be caused,thus it may affect students’ physical and mental health.Portfolio assessment enables more people and social groups to participate in assessment activities.Through self-assessment,portfolio assessment provides students with an opportunity to judge their own progress;Through mutual assessment,portfolio assessment enables the exchange of information among students;Through teacher assessment,portfolio assessment makes students understand clearly about learning requirements;Through parents’ assessment,portfolio assessment provides students with an opportunity to know more about themselves.Portfolio assessment is beneficial to the diversification of forms and contents of assessment.Portfolio assessment can effectively combine with diagnostic assessment,formative assessment and summative assessment altogether.It can focus on students’ learning process,reflect students’ ability to use strategies and cultivate students’ autonomous learning abilities.In order to verify the effectiveness of portfolio assessment,this study used a questionnaire survey,testing paper and interview,combined with formative assessment,summative assessment,self assessment,mutual assessment and parental assessment,conducted an 18-week portfolio assessment experiment on the fifth-grade students of Dunhua No.7 Primary School.Under the help of Quantitative and Qualitative analysis,the study aims to investigate whether portfolio assessment can develop students’ learning motivation,improve students’ learning beliefs,cultivate students’ learning strategies,train students’ autonomous learning ability,and enhance students’ English achievement.It is found that: 1)Portfolio assessment can improve students’ learning motivation;2)Portfolio assessment can improve students’ learning beliefs;3)Portfolio assessment can help to reform students’ learning strategies;4)Portfolio assessment can cultivate students’ autonomous learning ability;5)Portfolio assessment can enhance students’ English achievement.In order to improve the effectiveness of portfolio assessment,we should clarify the purpose of portfolio assessment,select appropriate assessment content,and guide students to conduct effective assessment.