Impacts of Portfolios on Students’ Writing Performance: A Case Study at A University in Hanoi
Keywords:
Portfolios, writing skills, writing portfolio assessments, process-based approach.Abstract
This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of using writing portfolios to improve English language writing skills and students’ perceptions of this practice at a university in Hanoi, Vietnam. The study adopts action research using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, namely questionnaires and writing assignment evaluations. The results of data collection from 50 second-year English majors shows notable gains in the participants' overall writing scores, as well as in each of the evaluation categories, including task achievement, coherence and cohesion, grammar, and vocabulary. Additionally, most of the students feel this practice has a positive influence on their writing skills, and adopting writing portfolios is something that should be continued in their studies. However, they do find this a time-consuming activity and the quality of some of their peers’ reviews does not meet their expectations. This study's findings provide a reference for teachers and practitioners involved in teaching writing skills. Appropriate action for further application of this activity is suggested at the end of the paper.
Classification number
Linguistics
Downloads
Published
References
Brown, H. D. (2004). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. New York: Longman.
Bui, B. N. (2019). Applying portfolio to improve writing skills of 11th grade students at a high school in Lang Son province. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Cheng, L., & Fox, J. (2017). Assessment in the language classrooms: Teachers supporting student learning.
London, UK: Palgrave McMillan .
Cohen, L. E. (2011). Research methodology in education. London: Routledge.
Dinh, T. N. (2016). A study on the application of writing portfolio technique to second year English majors: An action research project at Hanoi College of Commerce and Tourism. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Doan, T. N. (2019). Developing autonomy for first-year English major students at a university in Vinh through writing portfolio. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Duong, M. T. (2021). English majors’ perceptions of autonomous learning skills and their writing performance in an E-portfolio-based writing course. VNU Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 7 (5). Gebhard, J. G. (2005). Awareness of teaching through action research: Examples, benefits and limitations. JALT Journal, 27(1): 53-69.
Graves, D. (1983). Writing· teachers and children at work. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Harrison, C. (2007). The impact of e-portfolios on learning. Becta Impact 09 Project. Technical Report. MacIsaac, D. (1995). An introduction to action research. http://www.phy.nau.edu/~danmac/actionrsch.html
Nguyen, T. H. (2010). Using portfolios to improve the tenth graders writing skills at Dien Chau 4 High school: A quasi-experimental research. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Nguyen, T. N. (2017). An investigation into the application of writing portfolios and its relationship with the first-year English majored students' learning autonomy at ULIS-VNU. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Nguyễn, T. N. (2022). Using E-portfolios to improve writing skills for students at a high school in Phu Tho province: An action research project. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Nguyễn, V. N. (2020). Using writing portfolios to improve grade 10th students’ writing skill - An action research project in a high school in Ha Dong district. [Master’s thesis, Vietnam National University, Hanoi].
Perkins, K. (1983). On the use of composition scoring techniques, objective measure, and objective tests to evaluate ESL writing ability. TESOL Quarterly, 17(4): 651-67.
Richards, J. C. (2002). Methodology in language teaching: an anthology of current practice. Cambridge University Press.
Silva, T. (1990). Second language composition instruction: Developments, issues, and directions. In B. Kroll,
Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Steele, V. (n.d.). Product and process writing: A comparison. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/ product-and-process-writing-comparison
Tangpermpoon, T. (January 2008). Intergrated approaches to improve students writing skills for English major students. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254366466_integrated_approaches_to_improve_ students_writing_skills_for_english_major_students
Weigle, S. (2002). Assessing writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Yang, N. (2003). Integrating portfolios into learning strategy-based instruction for EFL colledge students.
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching.
