EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS REGARDING THE USE OF PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL EFL CONTEXT: The Case of EFL Middle School Teachers at M'sila

Abstract

III Abstract Portfolio assessment has gained an increasing interest as an alternative assessment tool in foreign language teaching. Therefore, this study aims to find out EFL teachers' perceptions regarding the use of portfolio assessment in EFL middle schools context. In order to answer the research questions and fulfill the objectives of this study, the researchers applied the descriptive method, using questionnaire and two interviews, one for teachers and another one for inspectors of education. The participants of the study were 50 EFL middle school teachers at M'sila in addition to two inspectors of education. The findings of the present study indicated that EFL teachers' perceptions varied towards portfolio assessment as they agreed that this assessment tool is beneficial to assess pupils' progress and achievement; however,the teachers perceived the length of time it takes and its difficulty to collect pupils' documents as the main problems in applying portfolio assessment. In addition, the results demonstrated that teachers focus on pupils' writing skill and neglect other skills. The results also indicated that although portfolio assessment is included in the Algerian curriculum of middle schools, but it has average use in M'sila EFL classes.