An Empirical Study Of Portfolio Assessment In College Oral English Classroom

According to traditional education ideology, curriculum, instruction andevaluation are involved in a linear connection. Yet with the advancement of society，they are now seen by most educational researchers and practioners as dynamicallyinterrelated with one another. Under this modern notion, quite a number of academicstudies, both theoretical and empirical, have been conducted in terms of educationalevaluation.As studies go further in this respect, traditional summative assessment falls underincreasing criticisms. In the meantime, formative assessment, as an alternative form ofassessment, is causing a great deal of attention among researchers with solidtheoretical foundation attributed to progress in quite a few areas of study, such aseducation, educational psychology, cognitive sciences, social sciences, etc. In thisbackground, portfolio assessment emerges as a fresh approach to educationalevaluation. Since it displays great potential of bringing out the best of both traditionalsummative assessment and formative assessment, it is causing more and more concernin the educational world.As college English reform is widely carried out these days, ESL (English as asecond language) classroom assessment has become a major concern of many Englisheducators and scholars. In traditional ESL classroom, evaluation is simply by way ofexams or tests of various kinds. Other facts such as students’ personality, affection andcognitive characteristics are largely discarded. As a result, it is not uncommon thatstudents with high grades in exam have a hard time speaking proper English in actualsocial circumstances. To address this issue, certain reform in terms of evaluation is amust. In “College English Curriculum Requirements” issued by the EducationMinistry of China in2004, it is proposed that a scientific educational evaluationsystem be established, and that multiple formative assessment tools, such as portfolio,online self-study recording, interviews, etc. should be utilized so as to reach an objective, rational and holistic judgment of students’ learning process and outcomes.In accordance with the insightful perspective it offers, the present empiricalstudy concerning college oral English instruction is designed and carried out among80non-English majors who are enrolled in2012in Southwest University forNationalities. By integrating portfolio assessment into routine oral English instructionof the experimental class, the study attempts to explore the feasibility of portfolioassessment in college oral English classroom and its possible effects on students’learning outcome and learning autonomy. To this end, both quantitative andqualitative research methods are adopted. Besides, a couple of instruments are utilizedto collect the data needed.Results of the experiment demonstrate that in college oral English classroom,portfolio assessment can be put into practice in the course of daily instruction; it helpsto improve students’ oral English proficiency and enhance their self-directed learningability. These findings are conductive to the application and development of portfolioassessment in college oral English classroom. Meanwhile, it offers some insights interms of curriculum and instruction reform in ESL classroom.