Impacts of Portfolio Assessment.pdf

VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in RESEARCH ARTICLE IMPACTS OF PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT ON IRANIAN EFL STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY BASED ON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEXTBOOK (PROSPECT 2) Fatemeh Amani1, Hadi Salehi2* 1&2* (English Department, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.) E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The studies about the use of portfolio assessment in foreign language teaching show that the portfolio assessment improves writing skills; however, foreign language skills are not limited to writing skill alone. Reading, speaking and listening skills are also important. Portfolio provides the students with the opportunity to see themselves as with special interests and needs in reading skill. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of portfolio as a descriptive assessment method on the development of Iranian EFL students' reading comprehension ability based on junior high school English textbook, Prospect 2. To this end, 20 Iranian EFL students all female from a guidance school were selected. The control group members (n=10) received traditional assessment and the experimental group members (n=10) received the portfolio assessment based on Prospect 2. Two reading comprehension tests as pretest and posttest were given to the students of both groups to find out their reading comprehension ability at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. In order to perform statistical analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical methods were applied. The results of the study did not show the superiority of portfolio method over o e tio al s ori g ethod i the de elop e t of the stude ts’ readi g comprehension. The results have some implications and suggestions for assessment, teaching and learning. Keywords: Assessment, Portfolio Assessment, Reading Comprehension, Prospect 2. Citation: APA MLA Amani,F & Salehi,H. (2017) Impacts of Portfolio Assessment on Iranian EFL “tude ts’ Reading Comprehension Ability Based on Junior High School English Textbook (Prospect 2).Veda’s Journal of English Language and Literature-JOELL, 4(4), 69-84. Amani, Fatemeh and Hadi Salehi. Impacts of Portfolio Assessment on Iranian EFL “tude ts’ Reading Comprehension Ability Based on Junior High School English Textbook (Prospect 2). Veda’s Journal of English Language and Literature JOELL, Vol.4, no.4, 2017, pp.69-84. Copyright © 2017 VEDA Publications Author(s) retain the copyright of this article Author(s) agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License . 69 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in 1. INTRODUCTION Reading is the basis of learning other cognitive skills. It is a process through which letters, symbols, and signs obtain meaning with the ultimate goal of achieving the abilities to read, comprehend, and criticize a text. The most important part of this process is comprehension. Lerner (1997) has argued that o prehe sio i ol es reader’s og iti e transaction with the text and the reader has to be able to bridge the gap between newly given data and his/her previously existing knowledge. If we are to enhance reading skills, there is no way but to change the teaching-learning methods of reading skills and their assessment. In recent years, a reform has happened in the era of evaluation. It is the shift from testing to assessment. Assessment, in the broad se se, ea s a ethods used to etter understand the current knowledge that a student possesses Colli s& O’Brie , , p. 9 . A ordi g to Crooks , assess e t is a pro ess that provides information about the thinking, a hie e e t or progress of stude ts p. . Designing assessment is a skilful art because it requires the assessor to have an understanding of the content of the knowledge, the syllabus, and the level (Gomez, 1999). Today, there are innovations in assessment procedures, where the change is from summative assessment to formative assessment. One of the significant methods in formative assessment system is portfolio. According to Archbald and Newman (1992, p. 169), "a portfolio is a file or folder containing a variety of information that documents a stude t’s e perie es a d a o plish e ts . Teachers that have paid attention to the process of learning as well as to the products of that learning evident in the portfolio collection can assess stude ts’ a ilities, skills a d k o ledge to a uratel evaluate, whether or not their teaching is preparing the students for the real world (Batzle, 1992). There is a wide body of theoretical research that recommends the use of portfolio in EFL classrooms (Hedge, 2000; Rea, 2001). For some teachers, the portfolio is part of an alternative assessment program, and it can either include a record of stude ts’ a hie e e ts or si pl do u e t their best work. For other teachers, the portfolio do u e ts the stude ts’ lear i g pro ess, a d still 70 others use it as a means of promoting learner reflection. Despite all efforts and costs of foreign language teaching in Iran, students suffer from difficulties in language learning skills. The problem appears to be in educational system that teachers, traditionally, do their best to teach 'what to think' rather than 'how to think' effectively about the subject matters which is termed as critical thinking (Shuffersman, 1991). Therefore, the main question in this study is that whether there would be a significant difference in reading comprehension of students, if the traditional quantitative methods of evaluations are replaced by qualitative methods such as portfolio. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Portfolio assessment has been adopted in many subject areas and accepted in a variety of contexts so that many descriptions of portfolio exist. Portfolio approaches to assess literacy have been described in a wide verity of publications (Flood & Lapp, 1989; Valencia, 1990a; Hamps-Lyons, 1996). The studies about the use of portfolio assessment in foreign language teaching largely show that they improve writing skills. But, foreign language skills are not limited to writing skill alone. Reading, speaking and listening skills are also important. Yurdabakan and Erdogan Tolga (2009) considered the effect of portfolio assessment on reading, listening and writing skills of secondary school language preparatory class students. The findings showed that portfolio assessment had significant influence on students' writing skills; The findings of this research are in contrast with that of Delgoshaei, Khrrazi and Talkhabi (2011) that demonstrated the using portfolio as an evaluation method leads to the improvement of reading skills. 2.1 PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT Writers like Chen (1993), Fenwick and Parsons (1999), Singer (1993) and Wolf (1989) have stated that portfolio assessment is effective in foreign language teaching and listed the strengths of this assessment approach as below: Portfolio assessment helps students to find appropriate learning contexts for themselves; assists the students to identify their goals for their future learning; gives them the opportunity to take responsibility for their 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in own learning ; enables the teacher to identify effective language teaching strategies and so on. 2.2 ASSESSING READING COMPREHENSION For assessing reading comprehension, Alderson (2000) suggested two techniques of summary and information transfer. Indeed, in transforming information the learners transfer what they have known from the texts to a table, a chart and the other types of graphs. According to the results of so many studies (e.g. Alyusef, 2005; McKeown, Beck, Black, 2009; Xie, 2010), EFL students suffered merely from a multitude overlooked difficulties in reading comprehension. In order to sol e EFL lear ers’ readi g o prehe sio pro le s, some assessments such as PA in which qualitative reading research examines the process of reading comprehension is significant. 2.3 PROSPECT 2 Prospect 2 from the series English for schools is part of a six-year program that is designed to help Iranian students learn English for communicative purposes using all the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The students have a workbook and a student book. The book entitled "Prospect 2" written by Alavimoghadam et al. (2014). 2.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The review of literature shows that in traditional assessment, the rate of failure, emotional disorder and unhealthy competition is increasing and students' interest for leaning is decreasing. Of course, most of these problems stem out of exam, anxiety and fear, and from testing without taking into accou t the stude ts’ i di idual differe es “eif, 2009). Typically, traditional assessment is used only to o itor stude ts’ lear i g. U der this odel, stude ts ho k o are separated those ho do ot k o . I other ords, traditio al assessment creates a system that classifies and ranks students (Berlak,1992). An assumption of alternative assessment is that it is ea i gless to atte pt to assess a perso ’s a ilities e ept i relatio to their alued goals .There are a ki ds of alter ati e assessment like portfolio assessment, play-based assessment, conference assessment, and so on (Raven, 1992, p. 89). The present study was an 71 attempt to promote reading skills of the students by encouraging them to use portfolio. Portfolio assessment provides an opportunity for EFL/ESL learners to monitor their own reading progress, their own learning strategies and take responsibility for meeting goals. Portfolio assessment can help learners to investigate their own strength and weakness points. 2.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES Based on the mentioned problem, the researcher attempted to answer the following questions: RQ1: Does portfolio assessment have any effect on Iranian EFL students 'reading comprehension ability based on junior high school English textbook? RQ2: How does portfolio assessment help students self-monitor their own learning and become more autonomous? RQ3: What are the stude ts’ attitudes to ards the portfolio assessment and their improvement in reading comprehension ability? RQ4: Is there any significant difference between the impact of traditional testing method and portfolio assess e t o EFL stude ts’ readi g o prehe sio ability based on junior high school English textbook? Based on the research questions of this study, the following hypotheses were formulated: H01: Portfolio assessment has no effect on Iranian EFL stude ts’ readi g o prehe sio a ilit ased on junior high school English textbook (Prospect 2). H02: There is no significant difference between the impact of traditional testing method and portfolio assess e t o EFL stude ts’ readi g o prehe sio ability based on junior high school English textbook. 2 METHOD 3.1 PARTICIPANTS The population was all female students in eighth grade in Iranian junior high school who received portfolio assessment. Convenience sampling was used in this study. The researcher selected a time and a place for a study, announces this to the students, and then uses those who show up as participants. The participants were 20 female students in eighth grade (in Iranian school system there is no female teacher in junior high school for boys). The participants were selected from two classes and each class had almost 10 students. They 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in were divided into three groups of experimental, control and pilot each with 10 students. Both of two control and experimental groups were almost equal regarding their general proficiency level and reading comprehension ability at the beginning of the study T .hey were between 13-15 years old. These students were in junior high school in Shahrekord city in Iran. They were taught by the same teacher. 3.2 MATERIALS 3.2.1 TOEFL PROFICIENCY TEST In order to ensure the homogeneity of the participants regarding language proficiency, a TOEFL test was administered to the participants. This test was adopted from TOEFL primary practice tests (reading and listening) step1 and step 2 books (see Appendix A) . The test consisted of two parts: vocabulary (10 items), reading comprehension (15 items), which was totally 25 items; it took students about 25 minutes to respond. The researcher pointed for each item one score (the total raw score=25 for each participant). 3.2.2 READING COMPREHENSION TEST The second test was reading comprehension test. The Gaj and Khattesefid junior high school workbooks were employed to carry out the test. The test consisted of five reading comprehension texts which included twenty one reading comprehension items and seven vocabulary items. The items were given to the participants to be answered as pretest and posttest. They required the participants to read the guidelines in English and Persian and answer the questions (see Appendix B). In order to ensure validity and reliability, first of all, the researcher reviewed the relevant literature and examined the test designed for similar purposes. The content validation form required the experts to rate each item of the test based on two criteria of the appropriateness of the item in representing the topic, and the clarity of the meaning of the item. The face validation form required the experts to judge about the components of visual appeal, quality of instructions to respondents, scoring format, page layout, number of sections, number of items, wording of items, relevance of items to the context, and length of time needed to answer the test. The reading comprehension test had 28 items and it took students about 25 minutes to respond. The 72 researcher pointed for each item one score (the total raw score=28 for each participant). 3.2.3 PORTFOLIO MODEL The procedures for preparing portfolio were following issues: planning the assessment purposes, corresponding the purposes with instructional objectives, forming criteria for assessment, developing checklist based on the criteria, integrating portfolio into class and activities, introducing the idea of portfolio assessment to the students, its justifications, necessary components, the how of assessment, monitoring the portfolio during the treatment and finally evaluating the final portfolio. The evaluative portfolio was used in this research. Students added their products to their portfolios. All the students' tasks and activities were collected in their portfolio and they had self-assessment on their portfolio during the treatment. There was peer assessment for some activities through the treatment; the researcher evaluated the students' portfolio in the experimental group. 3.2.4 THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire was adopted and related to the topic under study and then it was modified according to the needs and its usability by the researcher. All of the items in the questionnaire were adopted from Rahmani and Kashlouli (2012) and they were modified in line with the objectives of this study (see Appendix C). 3.2.5 ANALYTIC SCORING RUBRIC A TOEFL English proficiency test was administered to ensure the homogeneity of the participants. It consisted of 25 items. The time allotted to take this test was 25 minutes and the scoring was estimated out of 25. This test was administered to both treatment and control group. The reading comprehension test was administered as the pre-test and post-test. The test included 28 items. The score procedure for items in pretest and posttest was from 28 and the time allotted to take this test was 25 minutes. For the analysis of these scores, descriptive statistics, t-test and independent sample test were carried out to consider all aspects of the study. Reading comprehension pre-test and post-test was given to both treatment and control group. The reliability of the test scores was estimated through Cronbach's Alpha as (r= .86). 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in 3.3 PROCEDURE Before conducting the main study, a pilot study was conducted on a group of 10 students who had the same proficiency level as the main participants of the pretest study. The purpose of piloting was to predict the needs in the main study and to determine the time needed for answering the questions and to check the reliability of the tests. The experimental procedures of the study were summarized as follow: One proficiency test was given to the students of both groups (experimental and control) to see their levels and to make sure their homogeneity. Also two reading comprehension tests as pretest and posttest were given to the both groups to find out their reading comprehension ability at the beginning and at the end of the instruction and treatment. The views of prominent educators and English teachers were asked about the test to ensure that the test was valid. The reliability of the test was confirmed with a calculated Kronbach Alpha Coefficient. During the 12-week experimental study, traditional testing method was used in the control group, whereas portfolio assessment was used in the experimental group. The researcher herself was the teacher in both groups. The researcher asked a reading comprehension portfolio of students in experimental group. At the beginning of the treatment, the instructor explained about the design, goal and procedure of portfolio assessment. The researcher began with writing a definition and goals of portfolio assessment for learners in the experimental group. The researcher explained other types of alternative assessment such as selfassessment and peer assessment and their significance in the process of collecting portfolios. The students in the experimental group and their parents informed about the process of portfolio assessment. The researcher decided to use the folders for the lear ers’ portfolios. The resear her taught students based on junior high school English text book for one semester. The researcher prepared suitable reading comprehension tasks based on junior high school English textbook once a week. The students updated their portfolios by completing them. The portfolio contents included activity guides, group projects, individual projects and so on. At the end of semester, students in the experimental group 73 took the contents of their portfolios for a presentation to a small group of teachers, other students and outside observers. At the end of semester, the students in the experimental group were asked to write answers to some questions about their opinions on portfolio assessment which contains 25 different questions regarding to the effect of portfolio assessment on reading comprehension ability based on Prospect 2. 4. RESULTS Independent Samples t-Test on the Proficiency Test indicates that Sig was more than 0.05; it thus means that the difference between the proficiency levels of the two groups was not significant t(18) = -1.48, p= 0.15. In line with the purpose of the study which is considering the effect of portfolio assessment on reading comprehension ability, the researcher investigated the students' mean scores in the posttest. The differences between treatment and control groups were not significant. For considering the details of the research, the students in each group were divided into two low achievers and high achievers groups based on their scores in proficiency test and pretest. The level of significance for low-achievers was more than 0.05; the difference between two groups in low achievers level was not significant, t (8) = 0.5, p= 0.95. The level of significance for high-achievers was more than 0.05, and thus the difference between two groups in the high achievers level was not significant, t(8)= 0.63, p= 0.60. This means that experimental group didn't perform better than control group and there is no significant difference between the impact of traditional testing method and portfolio assessment on EFL students' reading comprehension ability based on Prospect 2. By considering the results of the items of the questionnaire, we can see that the portfolio assessment based on Prospect 2 helped the students' self-monitor their learning and the students had positive attitudes towards it. 5. DISCUSSION According to the findings, the answer to the first research question, "Does portfolio assessment have any effect on Iranian EFL students 'reading comprehension ability based on junior high school English textbook?" is "No". The results of data analysis in chapter four revealed that the difference 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in is not statistically significant. As a result, it could be concluded that experimental group members did not perform much better than control group members on the posttest and this was the answer for the first research question. These findings are in agree with those of Yurdabakan and Erdogan Tolga (2009) that considered the effect of portfolio assessment on reading, listening and writing skills of secondary school language preparatory class students. They analyzed the scores of students in both control group and treatment group. The findings showed that portfolio assessment had significant influence on students' writing skills; The findings of this research are in contrast with that of Delgoshaei, Khrrazi and Talkhabi (2011) that demonstrated the using portfolio as an evaluation method leads to the improvement of reading skills. This study examined the impact of portfolio on the development of firstgrade stude ts’ og iti e skills i readi g. The results of the study showed the superiority of portfolio method over conventional scoring method in the de elop e t of the stude ts’ og iti e skills of reading. The findings of this study are in agreement with the existing studies in the literature which revealed that portfolio assessment methods have no effect on Iranian EFL students 'reading comprehension ability. As the results show, the answer to the second research question," Is there any significant difference between the impact of traditional testing method and portfolio assessment o EFL stude ts’ readi g o prehe sio a ility based on junior high school English textbook?" is "No". These findings are not in line with the results of Charvade, Jahandar and Khodabandehlou (2012) that found there was a significant difference between the impact of portfolio assessment and traditional assess e t o EFL lear ers’ readi g o prehe sio ability and portfolio assessment has a positive effect o EFL lear ers’ readi g o prehe sio a ilit . reading comprehension ability based on junior high school English textbook (Prospect 2); and there is no significant difference between the impact of traditional testing method and portfolio assessment o EFL stude ts’ readi g o prehe sio a ilit based on junior high school English textbook. However portfolio is an effective instructional technique as well as assessment tool and can help students to improve self-confidence. The students can use portfolio to self-monitor their growth and their problems. By using portfolio the positive results that were found could be summarized as: positive reactions of both teachers and students toward portfolios; positive attitude increases toward learning in classes where portfolios are in practice; evidence on portfolios being more successful than traditional tests in assessing student achievements; i pro e e t of stude ts’ riti g skills a d positi e ha ges i stude ts’ stud a s; i rease i stude ts’ taki g respo si ilit of their o lear i g; improvement i stude ts’ higher order thi ki g skills, critical thinking skills, problem solving strategies, and self-evaluation abilities; and evidence towards portfolios role in improving communication among students, teachers, administrators, and parents. REFERENCES [1]. Alderson, J. C., & Backman, L. F. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge University Press. The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB22RU, UK. [2]. Ali, S. Y. (2005). An Introduction to Electronic Portfolios in the Language Classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, XI (8). [3]. Archbald, D. A. &Newmann, F. M. 1992. Approaches to Assessing Academic Achievement. In Berlak et al. Toward a New Science of Educational Testing and Assessment. Albang, NY: State University of New York Press. 161-229. [4]. Batzle, J. (1992). Portfolio Assessment and Evaluation: 6. CONCLUSION Developing and Using Portfolio in theClassroom. Based on the findings of the current study, portfolio assessment has no positive effect on students' reading comprehension ability. To meet this end, different tests and a questionnaire were used in the research study. The findings of the study confirmed two null hypotheses and showed that portfolio assessment has no effect on EFL stude ts’ Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press. 74 [5]. Berlak, H. (1992). The Need for a New Science of Assessment. In H. Berlak and others (eds). Toward a New Science of Educational Testing and Assessment. Albany: State University of NewYork. Retrieved from books.google.com 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 An International Peer Reviewed Journal http://www.joell.in [6]. Chen, L. (1993). Portfolios in second and foreign (EFL).Iranian language classroom assessment. Retrieved October Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1(3). 21, 2005 from http://spectrum.troy.edu/~lchen/papers/ [18]. Raven, J. (1992). A Model of Competence, Motivation, portfolio.doc. and Behavior, and a Paradigm for Assessment. In H. [7]. Collins, J., & O ‘Brien, N. (2003). The Greenwood Berlak and others (eds.), Toward a New Science of Dictionary of Education. USA, Westport: Greenwood Educational Testing and Assessment. Albany: State Press. September, 2001. Retrieved February 24, 2007, University of New York. from: [19]. Schafersman, S. D. (1991). An introduction to critical thinking. Retrieved March 3, 2008 from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001862.ht www.freeinquiry.com/critical.html m [8]. Crooks, T. (2001).The Validity of [20]. Seif, A. (2009). Educational Evaluation and Assessment. Formative Tehran: Roshd Publishing Company. Assessment. Paper Presented to the British Educational [21]. Singer, S. (1993). Portfolio Assessment in Foreign Research Association Annual Conference, University of Language, Pilot Project. Evansville-Vanderburgh School Leeds, 13-15. Corp., Ind. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. [9]. Delgoshaei, Y., Kharrazi,K., &Talkhabi,M.(2011). The ED368197). Retrieved from ERIC database. Impact of Portfolio Evaluation Method on the Development of Children’s Reading Skills. Procedia,32. [22]. Valencia, S. W. (1990a). A Portfolio Approach to publication. Classroom Reading Assessment: the Whys, Whats, and [10]. Fenwick, T. J. & Parsons, J. (1999). Using portfolios to [23]. Wolf, D.P. (1989). Portfolio Assessment: Sampling 356-360. Elsevier Hows. The Reading Teacher, vol.43, 338-340. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.053. Student Work. Educational Leadership, 46 (7), 35-39. assess learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service [24]. Yurdabakan, I., & Erdogan, T. (2009). The effects of No. ED428398). Retrieved from ERIC database. [11]. Flood, J., & Lapp, D. (1989) Reporting Reading portfolio assessment on reading, listening and writing Progress: A Comprehension Portfolio for Parents. The skills of secondary school preparatory class students. Reading Teacher, vol. 42, 508-514. The Journal of International Social Research, 2 (9), 526-538. [12]. Gharvade, R. M., Jahandar, SH., &Khodabandelou, M. (2012).The Impact of Portfolio Assessment on EFL [25]. Xie, x. (2010). The Influence Of Schema Theory on Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability. English Forign Language Reading Comprehension, the English language teaching,5.doi:10.5539/elt.v5n7p129. Teacher, 34, 67-75. [13]. Gomez, E. L. (1999). Assessment Portfolio and English Language Learners: Frequently Asked Questions and a Case Study of the Brooklyn International High School. Educational Alliance, LAB at Brown University, under Contract Number. RJ96006401. [14]. Hamp-Lyons, L. (1996) Applying Ethical Standards to APPENDIX A: TOEFL READING COMPREHENSION PROFICIENCY TEST Look at the picture. Read the words. Which sentences or words go with the picture? Portfolio Assessment of Writing in English as a Second Language. In M. Milanovic and N. Saville (eds.) Performance Testing, Cognition and Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.151–162. [15]. Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: oxford university press. [16]. Lerner, J. W. (1997). Learning disabilities: Theories, diagnosis, and teaching strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1(A) The boy is drawing the picture. [17]. Rahmani, N., &Kashlouli, S. M. (2015).The Effect of 75 Portfolio Assessment on Reading Comprehension (B) The boy is taking a photo. Ability of Intermediate Learners as a Foreign Language (C) The boy is talking on the phone. 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal http://www.joell.in 2 The boy with the arrow is….. 5 (A) Ahead (A) Bird (B) Beside (B) Butterfly (C) Under (C) Bee 3 6 (A) The boy is last in line. (A) Pencil (B) The boy is waiting in front of the school. (B) Eraser (C) The boy is talking to a friend. (C) Ruler 4 (A) The car is going up a hill. (B) The car is at the top of a hill. (C) The car is going down a hill. 7 (A) The girl is talking to someone. (B) The girl is writing a letter. (C) The girl is wearing a hat. 76 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal http://www.joell.in 8 11 (A) He is carrying a basket of apple. (A) They baked a cake. (B) He is picking some apples from a tree. (B) They put the ice cream in a bowl. (C) He is eating an apple under a tree. (C) They ate dessert. 9 (A) Long (B) Proud (C) Loud 12 (A) Train (B) Taxi (C) Bus 10 (A) Empty (B) A lot (C) Enough 13 (A) Coat (B) Dress (C) Hat 77 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in (A) A notebook (B) A pen (C) A envelope 14 Read the sign. Answer questions 19 to 22. (A) Same (B) Alone (C) Different 15 (A) She is reading from a book. 19 Where can you go to buy plant food? (B) She is sitting at a desk. (A) The playground (C) She is writing on a board. (B) A classroom READ AND FIND THE ANSWER. 16 . Students go to class here. Teachers work here. It has many desks. What is it? (C) A garden 20. You a u oth flo ers a d ……. (A) Seeds (A) a house (B) Vegetables (B) A school (C) Flower pictures (C) a bank 21. Where is the flower sale? 17. People work here. They can grow corn and other vegetables here. Sometimes, pigs, cows, and goats live here. (A) In a garden What is it? (B) At a school (A) A zoo (C) At someone's home (B) A farm 22. When is the flower sale? (C) A market (A) On a weekend 18. You use it when you send a letter to someone. It is made of paper. You write a street address on it. (B) In the winter (C) During a holiday What is it? 78 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in READ ABOUT HOW THE CHILDREN HELP AT HOME. ANSWER QUESTIONS 23 TO 25. 24.Who empties the trash on Friday? (A) Asher (B) Veronika (C) Byron 23.What does Asher do on Wednesday? 25.When does Asher wash the dishes? (A) Empty the trash (A) Monday (B) Wash the dishes (B) Wednesday (C) Clean the bedroom (C) Friday Answer Sheet for Proficiency Test: 79 1 b 14 C 2 a 15 C 3 a 16 B 4 a 17 B 5 c 18 c 6 c 19 b 7 a 20 c 8 c 21 b 9 c 22 a 10 a 23 a 11 a 24 c 12 a 25 a 13 a 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal http://www.joell.in APPENDIX B: PRETEST/ POSTTEST Name: Class: A) Match the phrases with questions. 1234- Where do you cook? Where do the wild animals come from? When do you often wake up? Who reads story books for you? B) Read and find the answer. 5 A TV program for children: a) radio b) news c) cartoon Age: a) before sunrise b) in the kitchen C)Africa d)my mother d) television 6 People buy everything they need here: a) zoo b) mosque c) office d) store 7 Half a hour ago, it as te to te . No it’s…………. a) eleven twenty b) half past eleven c) a quarter past eleven d) twenty to eleven C) Read this dialogue and then answer the questions. S1: Hello, Kumi. Can you tell me about your hobbies? “ : sure. I lo e pai ti g. I’ pai ti g a pi ture for u o . “ : That’s lo el . You’re good at pai ti g. Do ou like usi , too? S2: Yes, I do. I listen to music every evening. S1: and sports? Do you play volleyball or tennis? “ : No, I do ’t like sports. I do ’t pla olle all or te is. S1: I see. I hope your mum likes the picture. 8- What’s Ku i's ho ? a) reading b)painting 9- When does she listen to the music? a) in the free time c)computer games b)in the weekend 10-What is Kumi doing for her mother? a) shopping b)cleaning a picture 80 c)every evening c)painting a picture 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in D) Match the sentences with the correct answer. 11- My friend and I usually go to the park for walking. We love playing chess in the park, too. a) Negin b) Pooya c) Kamran 12- I like Persian. So I read story books and poems a lot. a) Ali b) Sogol c) Maryam 13- I have a new digital camera. So every weekend, I take many photos. a) Babak b) Ramin c) Mrs.Jafari 14- There is a big river near our village. So my hobby is going fishing on weekends. a) Ramin b) Ali c) Kamran E) Read the text and complete the sentences. I’ Ja k. I’ ears old a d I’ a tea her. M frie ds a d I ha e differe t ho ies. I usuall pla te is o Monday and Wednesday evenings and read books on Friday mornings. Bob is a doctor. He likes mountain climbing and watching movies in his free time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Nick and Oliver are engineers. They usually go horse riding on Tuesday mornings. Nick enjoys listening to the radio on Friday mornings but Oliver likes reading sports news on the net. 15-Ja k reads ooks ……….. 16-Oli er ………….. 17-Bo at hes TV ……………….. 18-Ni k …………..o Tuesda or i gs. a) rides horse b) on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons c) on Friday mornings d) likes reading sports news F (complete the sentences with the correct word. 19- We get good …….. fro Ta riz. (a- cheese b-sweet c-tea) 20- Good a a as o e fro …….. of Ira . (a-north b-south c-west) 21- Rasht is fa ous for its ……….. . (a-pistachio b-rice 81 c-sweet) 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in 22- We get good saffro fro ……….. . (a-Ahwaz b-Tehran c-Ghayenat) 23- There are a lot of ………. i the far . (a-cars b-sun flowers c-bridges 24- Paria has got ………... she should rest. (a-the flu b-a toothache c-stomachache) G) Read this text and select the best answer. M a e is Clara. I’ sixteen years old. My family and I live in Great Missenden. It is a big, clean and pretty village near London. My father is a fire fighter. He works at Tottenham Fire station in London. It is on 10 Seagrave Street. My mother is a nurse. She works in the Royal London Hospital on White Chapel Road. My parents work on shifts. My mother takes a bus to work, but my father drives to work. 25-Clara is …… ears old. a) 15 b) 17 c) 16 d) 18 26-The li e i ……... . a) Missenden b) London c) Tottenham d)White Chapel 27- ………….. is o “eagra e “treet. a) The hospital b) The fire station c) Their house d) The bus station 28-Great Missende is a ………. a) big city b)big village c)small city d) small village Answer Sheet for Pretest/Posttest: 82 1 b 15 c 2 c 16 a 3 a 17 b 4 d 18 d 5 c 19 a 6 d 20 b 7 a 21 b 8 b 22 c 9 c 23 b 10 c 24 a 11 b 25 c 12 c 26 a 13 a 27 b 14 b 28 b 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal Vol.4 Issue 4 2017 http://www.joell.in APPENDIX C: SAMPLE OF QUESTIONNAIRE IN ENGLISH This questionnaire involves two kinds of questions. The questions (1-2-4-8-9-11-12-13-14-15-17-18-21-22-2425) are students' perceptions and the questions (3-5-6-7-10-16-19-20) are the questions that related to students' self-monitor. Strongly Agree (S.A), Agree (A), No. decided, Disagree (D), and Strongly Agree (S.D) No. Lear ers’ Reactio to the Effect of Portfolio Assess e t on Reading Comprehension Ability 1 I have intimate knowledge of the definition of portfolio and its assessment in the classroom. 2 The primary purpose of portfolio assessment is increasing reading abilities and comprehending different texts in a wide variety of subjects. 3 My needs in improving and progress in different texts were obviated by portfolio assessment. 4 Classroom activities were specially designed based on my needs and resolving my problems in improving my abilities in reading different texts. 5 Portfolio is a collection which shows my progress, efforts, and also the rate of my success during a term. 6 As an active learner, my progress was assessed during a term by my teacher and my-self. 7 I observe my progress in different reading comprehension abilities from beginning to end. 8 My vocabulary knowledge is increased by portfolio assessment and reading different texts in a wide variety of subjects. 9 Compared with traditional methods and previous terms, lear ers’ progress a d i pro e e t are ore assessed i different times. 10 According to successive assessment, portfolio assessment gives me more opportunities to check and eliminate my weak points in learning and improvement. 11 Portfolio assessment provides perfect opportunities to collect and choose different texts. 83 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi S.A 2* A No. decided D SD VEDA’S JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL) An International Peer Reviewed Journal http://www.joell.in 12 Co pared to traditio al my final grade. 13 My final grade clearly shows the effect of portfolio assessment on reading comprehension abilities. 14 The significant effect of port folio assessment on my final grade during a term highly motivates me to use portfolio assessment. 15 By the use of portfolio, reading different texts are not as tedious and time-consuming as before. 16 After familiarity with portfolio, compared to the previous terms I read different texts in a short time. 17 Portfolio assessment increases my sense of competition. 18 Portfolio assessment creates a sense of responsibility in my learning. 19 Increasing sense of responsibility helps me to diagnose my weak points in learning process. 20 I know all about my strength and weak points by portfolio assessment. 21 I have a positive attitude towards portfolio assessment. 22 Portfolio assessment is one of the highly effective methods. 23 Carrying out portfolio studies show my real progress and also enhance my self-confidence. 24 Learning and reading comprehension in different texts and subjects are more exciting for me by portfolio assessment. 25 Applying different methods and skills increase my motivation and also motivate me to make tremendous efforts in learning English. 84 ethods, I’ ore satisfied ith 1 Fatemeh Amani , Hadi Salehi 2* Vol.4 Issue 4 2017