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Using Electronic Portfolios for Second Language Assessment
Author(s) -
CUMMINS PATRICIA W.,
DAVESNE CÉLINE
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00977.x
Subject(s) - portfolio , language assessment , computer science , electronic portfolio , affordance , foreign language , alternative assessment , language proficiency , language acquisition , point (geometry) , language education , mathematics education , linguistics , psychology , business , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , finance , human–computer interaction
Portfolio assessment as developed in Europe presents a learner‐empowering alternative to computer‐based testing. The authors present the European Language Portfolio (ELP) and its American adaptations, LinguaFolio and the Global Language Portfolio, as tools to be used with the Common European Framework of Reference for languages and the American national standards, which reference the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages proficiency scale. The ELP's characteristic three‐part format, consisting of a language passport, a language biography, and a dossier, builds on earlier research on portfolios and second language assessment. The portfolios' qualitative assessment complements other types of quantitative assessment measures. The authors also explore the unique affordances offered by electronic portfolios to connect teaching and learning to assessment, discuss the effectiveness of portfolios as an assessment tool, and point to future directions for e‐portfolio research and development for language learning.