This paper aims to define the term "portfolio" and its application in classrooms. Through reflecting on my personal experience with using the portfolio project with EFL students and exploring the related literature, some major challenges will be addressed. The main focus of this paper is to introduce the autobiographical approach in curriculum as an attempt to find new pathways to deal with these challenges.
KeywordsPortfolio, challenges, EFL, currere
Literature ReviewThe concept of portfolio is adopted from the field of fine arts in which portfolios are used to represent the artists' own work. It is a reflection of the depth and breadth of the artist's work and his artistic capacities in general (Moya & O'Malley, 1994). Similarly, educators have used portfolios as a tool to measure the academic capacities of learners in a particular field and over a particular period of time. In the field of English Language Teaching (ELT), educators have realized the importance of implementing the portfolio approach as a learning tool and an alternative assessment to measure the linguistic abilities of (English as a second/foreign language) learners (Tannenbaum, 1997). It has proved its superiority over the traditional methods of assessment because it "employs strategies that ask students to show what they can do" compared with the traditional testing in which "students are evaluated on what they integrate and produce rather than on what they are able to recall and reproduce" (Tannenbaum, 1997).Hung (2009) also asserted that "portfolios provide an opportunity for learners to monitor their own progress and take responsibility for meeting goals" (p. 131). Yet, implementing the portfolio approach in ESL/EFL classrooms entails many potential problems. Investigating these challenges can help to find ways to eliminate them.In this paper, portfolio will be repeatedly defined as a tool of learning and assessment in the classroom www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/selt Studies in English Language Teaching Vol. 5, No. 4, 2017 772Published by SCHOLINK INC.setting. Portfolio is "a compilation of students' work, which demonstrates how much effort they have put into their work, their progress and achievement in their learning, and their reflection on the materials chosen for the portfolio" (lau, n.d.). It is also defined as "a systematic and purposeful collection of learner's work that demonstrates achievement of learning outcomes over time (ESL Literacy Network, 2011). This tool was introduced in education in 1980 and, since then, it has gained a considerable attention as a learning and assessment tool (Aydin, 2010). It is obvious from the two definitions that using portfolios in ESL/EFL classrooms has some merits over the traditional methods of assessment. Lau (n.d.) asserted that:Portfolio assessment… can evaluate students holistically based on the content of the portfolio on which the teachers and students agree. Moreover, it focuses greatly on individual differences. As language cannot be acquired overnight, the portfolio can...