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ELT Journal Advance Access published online on April 6, 2009

ELT Journal, doi:10.1093/elt/ccp024
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.

Balancing the dual functions of portfolio assessment

Ricky Lam and Icy Lee

Ricky Lam is a teaching fellow in the Department of English at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. His research interests include portfolio assessment and assessment for learning
Icy Lee is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong

Email: lamck{at}ied.edu.hk

Email: icylee{at}cuhk.edu.hk


   Abstract

While research on portfolio assessment (PA) has focused largely on the summative aspects of writing assessment, not much has been done to find out its formative potential. Drawing upon student questionnaires and student and teacher interview data, this paper aims to explore the formative functions of PA and, specifically, how the formative potential of PA can be better utilized in the EFL writing classroom. The findings of the study indicate that although students responded positively to the formative aspects of PA, they still preferred summative grading and tended to believe that grades were the best way to inform their current standards of writing. The paper ends with a discussion on how the formative aspects of PA could be strengthened and how PA can integrate teaching and assessment to benefit students’ learning of writing.


Final revised version received January 2009


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