A Study on the Impact of Using Portfolio Assessment on English Reading Comprehension Ability of the First – Year English Major Students at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** TRẦN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF USING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT ON ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY OF THE FIRST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HA NAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP ĐÁNH GIÁ TUYỂN TẬP BÀI LÀM ĐỐI VỚI KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HÀ NAM M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** TRẦN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO A STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF USING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT ON ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY OF THE FIRST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HA NAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP ĐÁNH GIÁ TUYỂN TẬP BÀI LÀM ĐỐI VỚI KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HÀ NAM M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Trần Thị Tuyết Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A study on the impact of using portfolio assessment on English reading comprehension ability of the first year English major students at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees Signature: Trần Thị Phương Thảo Date: October 25th, 2014 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study could not have been fulfilled without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Tran Thi Tuyet for her never – ending support and valuable guidance during this process I have appreciated her continual encouragement, challenging questions and constructive advice, without which this thesis would not have been completed Second, I would like to take the chance to express my great attitude to our teachers at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies of Vietnam National University, University of Languages and International Studies for providing is with the precious knowledge from their practical and helpful lectures Besides, I greatly appreciate my colleagues and the participants in my research because of their generosity in giving me time and suggestion My gratitude also goes to the authors of the books and articles listed in the sources of the references Finally, I wish to thank my family, without whose love and support this study could hardly become a reality ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of portfolio assessment on English reading comprehension ability of English major students at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College Participants consisted of 30 first year English major students The portfolio assessment was integrated into classroom activities to explore to what extent the student’s English reading comprehension ability may be enhanced Both quantitative and qualitative procedures were used for data collection and analysis Data were obtained through four channels: a questionnaire with students, an interview with teacher, students’ portfolios and classroom observation The results indicated that most of students and the teacher were in favour of portfolio assessment of reading and its procedures boosted students’ reading comprehension and raised their self – assessment and learner autonomy as well If portfolio assessment is planned carefully, it will become a powerful tool for assessing and enhancing students’ learning iii LISTS OF TABLES NAME OF TABLES Table 1: Differences between traditional assessment and alternative assessment Table 2: Design of portfolio assessment Table 3: Week plan for portfolio assessment classroom procedures Table 4: Portfolio rating scale Table 5: Suggested questions for students’ reflections Table 6: Material evaluation checklist Table 7: The impact of teacher’s immediate feedback and group discussion Table 8: Students’ views on their self – assessment skills Table 9: The role of portfolio as a learning and assessment tool Table 10: The role of portfolio assessment in promoting learner autonomy iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledge………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract……………………………………………………………………… iii List of tables…………………………………………………………….…… iv Table of content……………………………………………………………………… v PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… 1 Rationale………………………………………………………………… 2 Objectives, research questions, and scope of the study………………… Methods of the study……………………………………………………… Structure of the study……………………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………… Chapter 1: Literature review…………………………………………………… 1.1 Definition of reading comprehension……………………………… 1.2 Reasons for assessing students’ reading comprehension…………… 1.3 Assessment approaches…………………………………………… 1.4 Portfolio assessment…………………………………………… …… 1.4.1 Definition of portfolio…………………………………… … 1.4.2 Types of portfolio………………………………………… … 1.4.3 Portfolio assessment……………………………………… … 10 1.4.4 Research on portfolio assessment…………………………… 11 1.4.5 Reasons for using portfolio assessment……………………… 12 1.4.6 Stages of portfolio assessment implementation……………… 13 Chapter 2: Methodology…………………………………………………… 16 2.1 Sampling………………………………………………………………… 16 2.1.1 Students…………………………………………………………… 16 2.1.2 Teachers…………………………………………………………… 16 2.1.3 Teaching reading to first year English major students…………… 17 2.1.4 Applying portfolio assessment in HTTC context………………… 18 v 2.2 Research questions……………………………………………………… 21 2.3 Data collection…………….………………….………………………… 21 2.3.1 Instruments………………………………………………………… 21 2.3.2 Research procedures……………………………………………… 23 2.3.3 Data analysis……………………………………………………… 24 Chapter 3: Findings and discussion……………………………………… 25 3.1 Data analysis results…………………………………………………… 25 3.1.1 Data collected from classroom observation ……………………… 25 3.1.2 Data collected from students’ reflections and final feedback…… 25 3.1.3 Data collected from students’ questionnaire……………………… 30 3.1.3.1 The impact of teacher’s intermediate feedback and group 31 discussion………………………………………………………… 3.1.3.2 Students’ views on their self – assessment skills……… 31 3.1.3.3 The role of portfolio as a learning and assessment tool… 32 3.1.3.4 The role of portfolio assessment in promoting learner autonomy…………………………………………………………… 32 3.1.4 Data collected from teacher’s interview…………………………… 33 3.2 Discussion of findings…………………………………………………… 34 3.2.1 Students’ perception on portfolio assessment………………… 34 3.2.2 The impact of using portfolio assessment on students’ reading 34 comprehension ability……………………………………………… 3.2.3 The possibility of applying portfolio assessment in reading 36 courses in HTTC……………………………………………………… PART C: CONCLUSION………… ……………………………………… 38 Summary of the study……………………………………………………… 38 Limitations and suggestions for further studies…………………………… 39 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………… 40 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Design of portfolio assessment………………………………… vi I Appendix 2: A week plan for classroom portfolio procedures……………… II Appendix 3: Portfolio rating scale…………………………………………… IV Appendix 4: Suggested questions for students’ reflections………………… VI Appendix 5: Material evaluation checklist…………………………………… VII Appendix 6: Questionnaire for students (English version)………………… VIII Appendix 7: Questionnaire for students (Vietnamese version)……………… X Appendix 8: Teacher’s interview…………………………………………… XII Appendix 9: Students’ reflections…………………………………………… XIII vii PART A: INTRODUCTION This part presents rationale of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, scope of the study, methods of the study and structure of the study Rationale Assessment is an integral part of any educational process promising beneficial backwash effects on the syllabus, materials and teaching (Tomlinson, 2005) Along with the recent developments in science, society and educational measurements, instructional and assessment practices become “holistic, student centered, performance based, process oriented, integrated and multidimensional” (Gottlieb, 1995, p.12) This is accounted for by the concerns to the traditional assessments, which typically fail to assess higher order cognitive skills and other skills essential for functioning in school (Haney & Madaus, 1989) In addition, the traditional methods such as tests are seen as particularly irrelevant to learning process (Moya & O’Malley, 1994) and “as dark clouds hanging over learner’s heads, upsetting them with thunderous anxiety” (Brown, 1994, p.373) Therefore, researchers have sought alternative forms of student assessment that are able to solve the above problems One of the most effective types of alternative assessments is portfolio assessment Portfolios have proved useful in providing effective feedback to both teachers and learners, enhancing responsibility towards learning and bringing positive attitudes (Yang, 2003; De Fina, 1992) Moreover, they can be used to facilitate the learning process, encourage learner autonomy and raise learners’ awareness about learning strategies (Moore, 1994; Banfi, 2003; Yang, 2003) In spite of the significance of portfolio assessment in instruction and learning, little research has been done concerning the use of portfolios with college students in an EFL environment Additionally, this method has not been applied in evaluating the reading skills of the first - year English major students at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College (HTTC), where the author works For the above-mentioned reasons, the researcher would like to carry out the following research: “A study on the impact of using portfolio assessment on English APPENDIX A WEEK PLAN FOR PORTFOLIO CLASSROOM PROCEDURES WEEK GOAL ACTIVITIES TO DO Introducing portfolio assessment to students finding main ideas Discussing with students 2&3 5&6 Reading for specific information 8&9 Summarizing 10 11 & 12 understanding EXERCISE TYPES - study ‘finding main - matching a ideas’ skill heading with a - collect materials paragraph - skim for main ideas - true, false, not - friends’ exercises given - group discussion - multiple choice - write reflection at home Teacher – student conference - study ‘reading for - multiple choice specific information’ - open answer skill - true, false, not - collect materials given - skim for main ideas - complete sentence - friends’ exercises - complete a chart, - group discussion a table - write reflection at home Teacher – student conference - study ‘summarizing’ - close exercise skill with - collect materials answer choices - complete a summary given - friends’ exercises - cloze exercise - group discussion without any - write reflection at answer home choices Teacher – student conference - study ‘understanding - matching (new II SUGGESTED SOURCES - book chapters - articles - journals - novel extracts - short stories - reports - statistics - biography - travel brochures - travel guide - timetables - short stories - book chapters - articles - reports any vocabulary in context 13 14 15 vocabulary in words with context’ skill meanings) - collect materials - multiple choice - guess the meaning of - short answer important questions new words using context clues and word study skills - friends’ exercises - group discussion - write reflection at home Teacher – student conference Making - study ‘making - multiple choice inferences inferences’ skill - open answer - collect materials - true, false, not - read for full given understanding to come to the right implications - friends’ exercises - group discussion - write reflection at home - Review of the whole process - Write final feedback - Portfolio exhibition - stories (detectives, jokes) - news - articles & journals Table 3: Week plan for portfolio assessment classroom procedures (Adapted from Somchoen, 2002; Chi, 2006) III QUALITY CONTENT APPENDIX PORTFOLIO RATING SCALE FAIL PASS GOOD EXCELLENT Portfolio collection includes less than 50% of: - Student’s reading exercises - Peers’ reading exercises - Personal reflections - Teacher assessments - Students can’t peers’ reading exercises - Reflections show little evidence of learning - Reflections not show an awareness of student strengths and weaknesses - Portfolios not show improvements in targeted reading skills Portfolio collection includes more than 70% of: - Student’s reading exercises - Peers’ reading exercises - Personal reflections - Teacher assessments Portfolio collection includes more than 80% of: - Student’s reading exercises - Peers’ reading exercises - Personal reflections - Teacher assessments - Students can peers’ reading exercises rather well - Reflections show adequate evidence of learning - Reflections show an awareness of student strengths and weaknesses - Portfolios show good improvements in targeted reading skills Portfolio collection includes more than 90% of: - Student’s reading exercises - Peers’ reading exercises - Personal reflections - Teacher assessments - Students can peers’ reading exercises with some difficulty - Reflections show some evidence of learning - Reflections show some awareness of student strengths and weaknesses - Portfolios show some improvements in targeted reading skills IV Students can peers’ reading exercises very easily - Reflections show a lot evidence of learning - Reflections show full awareness of student strengths and weaknesses - Portfolios show remarkable improvements in targeted reading skills Your grade FORMAT CONCLUSION - Entries are not arranged in any order - Entries are badly presented - Materials (reading exercises and reflections) are handwritten and not clear to see Portfolios not meet objectives - Entries are arranged in order - Entries are clearly presented - Materials (reading exercises and reflections) are handwritten Portfolios need improvement - Entries are arranged in order with explanation for such organization - Entries are clearly and well presented - Materials (reading exercises and reflections) are typed Portfolios meet objectives - Entries are arranged in order with good explanation for such organization - Entries are clearly and attractively presented - Materials (reading exercises and reflections) are typed Portfolios exceed objectives YOUR FINAL GRADE Table 4: Portfolio rating scale (Adapted from Kemp & Toperoff, 1998; Chi, 2006) V APPENDIX SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS’ REFLECTIONS Where is the material from? Why did you choose the material? Did you face any difficulties or conveniences when doing the task? What you think of your performance on the exercises collected by group partners? What were your tips or reading strategies in doing this type of exercise? Do you have any general suggestions or advice for your friends? Table 5: Suggested questions for students’ reflections VI APPENDIX MATERIAL EVALUATION CHECKLIST Does the material you chose… o have an interesting topic? o contain productive information? o have an appropriate length? (approximately 300 - 350 words) o have its exercise type relevant to the targeted reading skill? o contain less than 25% new words and structures? o have its background knowledge understandable to your readers? o have a clear layout? Table 6: Material evaluation checklist VII APPENDIX STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF IMPACT OF PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT ON LEARNER’S READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) This questionnaire is designed to help me completely my thesis on “The impact of using portfolio assessment on English reading comprehension ability of the first – year English major students at Ha Nam Teachers’ Training College” Your opinions would be very valuable to the methodology research and improvement in the teaching and learning reading skill You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data A Personal information Please put a cross (X) in the or write the answers briefly for the following information  Age:  Years of learning English: B Questionnaire Please put a cross (X) in the column that best shows your level of agreement and disagreement SA: Strongly agree A: Agree DA: Disagree SD: Strongly disagree Statements SA A D SD Teacher’s immediate feedback and group discussion help me understand my strengths and weaknesses Teacher’s immediate feedback and group discussion help me know how to correct my common mistakes Teacher’s immediate feedback and group discussion help me know how to avoid my previously made mistakes Teacher’s immediate feedback and group discussion help me learn structures and vocabulary more easily VIII Teacher’s immediate feedback and group discussion help me the next week exercise better 6.I can self – aware of my strengths and weaknesses I can self – evaluate my reading ability after each reading I can control my time My speech of reading has improved 10 My reading skills and strategies are enhanced 11 I feel that portfolio assessment is more reliable than traditional testing 12 I feel that portfolio assessment can evaluate my ability accurately 13 I feel that portfolio assessment can both assess and assist my learning 14 I prefer to be evaluated by portfolios 15 I am more motivated in reading 16 Portfolio makes me to work harder 17 I am more interested in doing reading at home than in class 18 Portfolio allows me to choose reading exercise according to my own level 19 Doing reading exercise on my own level makes me more confident 20 Portfolio allows me to choose my favorite reading topics 21 Portfolio allows me to exercise in my suitable time THANK YOU VERY MUCH! IX APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS NHẬN THỨC CỦA SINH VIÊN VỀ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA CÁCH ĐÁNH GIÁ TUYỂN TẬP BÀI LÀM ĐỐI VỚI KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA SINH VIÊN (Vietnamese version) Những câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập ý kiến sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Hà Nam để thực đề tài nghiên cứu khoa học liên quan đến: “Nghiên cứu ảnh hưởng việc sử dụng phương pháp đánh giá tuyển tập làm khả đọc hiểu tiếng Anh sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Hà Nam” Những câu hỏi điều tra nhằm mục đích thu thập liệu cho nghiên cứu, khơng nhằm mục đích khác Những câu trả lời bạn nguồn đóng góp vơ giá trị cho đề tài nghiên cứu Xin trả lời câu hỏi cách trung thực Xin chân thành cảm ơn A Thông tin cá nhân Đánh dấu gạch chéo vào ô trả lời ngắn gọn câu hỏi sau:  Tuổi:  Số năm học tiếng Anh: B Câu hỏi khảo sát Đánh dấu (X) vào cột thể mức độ đồng ý không đồng ý bạn nhận định SA: Hồn tồn đồng ý A: Đồng ý D: Khơng đồng ý SD: Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý SA A D SD Việc giáo viên thường xuyên nhận xét trao đổi theo nhóm giúp em nhận điểm mạnh điểm yếu em Việc giáo viên thường xuyên nhận xét trao đổi theo nhóm giúp em biết cách sửa lỗi hay mắc phải Việc giáo viên thường xuyên nhận xét trao đổi theo nhóm giúp em tránh lỗi mắc phải trước, X Việc giáo viên thường xuyên nhận xét trao đổi theo nhóm giúp em học cấu trúc từ vựng tốt Việc giáo viên thường xuyên nhận xét trao đổi theo nhóm giúp em làm sau tốt Em tự đánh giá điểm mạnh điểm yếu Em tự đánh giá khả em sau Em tự kiểm sốt thời gian làm Tốc độ làm đọc em cải thiện 10 Kỹ chiến lược làm đọc em cải thiện 11 Em nhận thấy cách đánh giá tuyển tập làm xác thi cuối kì 12 Em nhận thấy cách đánh giá tuyển tập làm đánh giá xác lực em 13 Em nhận thấy cách đánh giá tuyển tập làm vừa kiểm tra vừa giúp em học tập 14 Em thích đánh giá tuyển tập làm 15 Em hứng thú học tập 16 Em phải dành nhiều thời gian học 17 Em thích làm đọc nhà lớp 17 Em thích làm đọc nhà làm lớp 18 Em chọn đọc phù hợp với khả em 19 Làm đọc phù hợp với khả em làm em cảm thấy tự tin 20 Em chọn chủ đề em yêu thích 21 Em làm với thời gian phù hợp với em Xin chân thành cảm ơn! XI APPENDIX INTERVIEW TO TEACHER Date conducted: April 4th, 2014 A Personal information: Gender: Female  Age: 31  Years of teaching English: years B Interview questions: (Th: the interviewer, T: the interviewee) Th: What type of testing/ assessment procedures you follow in your class? T: Like other teachers in my school, I use final tests to measure students’ ability for the whole semester Th: Do you think that type of assessment is reliable? T: No, I don’t think so It cannot reflect students’ ability accurately because it only measures their ability at a particular time I have witnessed some good students not perform well in the test while some weak one get higher results in comparison with their real ability Th: Did you have any knowledge of the portfolio prior to this present project? T: I heard about it when I was studying at university but I never applied it Th: Could you see any benefits when implementing the portfolio project in your class? If yes, what were they? T: I noticed most of student portfolios getting better and better in weekly portfolio entries They reflected their problems they met when doing exercises I found out that they were no longer afraid of raising questions and asking me for help This hardly happened in my class before Th: Did you face any difficulties when implementing the portfolio project? If yes, what were they? T: The biggest problem was that it took me a lot of time to read and evaluate students’ portfolios How did you overcome the difficulties? T: I have not found out a good solution to the problem, but I think that setting clear assessment criteria may lighten the burden Th: Would you apply this assessment method in your future courses? T: Yes, of course Despite of taking time and effort, it is worth to see the students’ progress However, I have to prepare more carefully before conducting it in my class XII APPENDIX STUDENTS’ REFLECTION Sample XIII Sample XIV Sample 3: XV Sample 4: XVI