Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) in Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Programs: Taking Stock of Teachers' Experience

Authors

  • Nwara Abdulhamid Carleton University
  • Janna Fox

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2020.31121

Abstract

This study examined seven Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) teachers’ accounts of current Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) practices, elicited through semi-structured interviews, in order to explore washback - the effects of PBLA on teaching and learning. Portfolios are primarily useful as formative assessment tools (i.e., informing teaching and learning) (Fox, 2014; Little, 2007); conversely, when used solely as summative tools (i.e., achievement measures), they can result in portfolio prisons, which undermine teaching and learning (Hargreaves et al., 2002). To investigate the washback effect of PBLA, data were qualitatively analyzed, synthesized, and merged in development of recurring themes (Charmaz, 2006). Findings suggest that PBLA may have had washback on both teaching and learning. However, teachers’ individual classroom situations determined the direction and intensity of reported PBLA washback. The study highlights leverage points (Fox, 2004) where interventions (e.g., additional support, resources) might address negative washback. 

Downloads

Published

2020-10-16

How to Cite

Abdulhamid, N., & Fox, J. (2020). Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) in Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Programs: Taking Stock of Teachers’ Experience. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 23(2), 168–192. https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2020.31121

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2020): Special Issue: The Canadian National Frameworks for English and French Language Proficiency: Application, Implication, and Impact

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Nwara Abdulhamid, Janna Fox

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics (CJAL) agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the CJAL right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/> that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in the CJAL.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the CJAL's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in the CJAL.
  • Authors will not simultaneously submit the same piece of work for possible publication to more than one academic journal at a time.