Using Portfolios as a Language Learning Tool

The study intended to investigate the efficacy of integrating portfolios into an EFL course and explore its effect on helping students to become effective and autonomous learners. As a purposeful collection of student work, portfolios show student efforts, progress, and self-reflection. The study used questionnaires to examine students’ reactions about the use of portfolios in a freshman English course. Also, students were surveyed about their reactions toward both traditional pen-and-paper tests and portfolio assessment in the second semester. The results showed that most college students had positive reactions toward using portfolios in English class. Since portfolios could facilitate their taking control of and reflecting on their own learning, they considered portfolios a useful tool for assisting learning and assessing their progress. Besides, most students thought using multiple evaluation methods would be helpful to learning. Finally, practical suggestions on using portfolios in the EFL classroom were offered.