The Effect of Portfolio Assessment on Iranian EFL Learners 'Expository Writing Accuracy and Complexity

This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of portfolio assessment (PA) on Iranian EFL learners' expository writing accuracy and complexity. It was hypothesized that engaging learners in the process of assessing their performance can focus their attention on formal and textual features and thereby promote their writing. ۲۰ male learners at the intermediate and high level of proficiency in Iran Language Institute (ILI), Khoy Branch who were within the age range of ۱۵-۲۰ participated in the study and were randomly assigned as the control and experimental groups after their homogeneity was assessed based on an Oxford Placement Test and a writing test. Both groups received one session as a pretest and three sessions as posttests. The experimental group was provided with some information about the nature and goal of the portfolio assessment at the beginning of the class and additionally experienced both paper correction by their teacher and portfolio activities such as collecting each participant's papers in personal files and a special kind of feedback related to their accuracy and complexity. The paired samples t-test analysis of their writing post-test revealed that the experimental group surpassed the control group and produced more accurate but equally complex texts. The findings highlight the importance of engaging intermediate and advanced TEFL students not only in the learning process but also in the process of evaluating their progress over time and offer pedagogical implications.

کلیدواژه ها:

accuracy ، complexity ، interactive feedback ، portfolio assessment ، writing