Portfolios as an alternative assessment strategy in second language instruction

With the advent of research on multiple intelligences and individual differences, alternative methods of assessing individual strengths in content areas are needed. An integral part of the process of acquiring a second language involves these alternative methods of evaluating individual strengths. Portfolio assessment offers an alternative to conventional testing strategies for evaluating progress in second language learning. Portfolios provide meaningful methods to actively engage language students in the basic four modalities of literacy: listening, reading, speaking and writing a second language. Portfolios also can help promote and document the five standards of foreign language instruction: culture, communication, connection, comparisons and communities. With this in mind, I used portfolios as an alternative assessment strategy with my French I students during the 1999-2000 school year. Students prepared portfolios to demonstrate their journey to language acquisition