A Study on Portfolio Assessment as an Effective Student Self-Evaluation Scheme

Portfolios are collections of students works over time. They often document students best works and may include other types of process information such as drafts of the students work, the students self-assessment of the work, and the parents assessment. Portfolios may be used for evaluation of students abilities and progress. The study involved the analysis of 156 reflective essays written by college students taking a basic course in English. The reflective essays were part of a portfolio project, which is one of the requirements of the course. The data showed that through this alternative self-evaluation scheme, students were able to identify the various linguistic problems involving all the macro-skills. Moreover, through this assessment students were able to address these deficiencies through the learned independence and self-autonomy in learning that they have developed. Proponents of the process approach to writing believe that traditional assessment techniques are often incongruent with English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom writing practices. The standardized written test given at the end of th