Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio assessment refers to dossiers wherein learners document their efforts, growth, and achievements to fulfil diverse learning-oriented, curricular, and evaluative purposes. In this entry, I first analyze diverse definitions of portfolio assessment and describe its attributes and types adopted in language classrooms. I then discuss the pros and cons of portfolio assessment when it is implemented. To link with its digital counterpart, I continue to outline the definitions and major components of e-portfolios plus their research developments by diving into three literature review studies with critical interpretations. The entry ends with four debatable yet insightful implications that can enlighten scholars, postgraduate students, teachers, school/university administrators, and a larger testing community. The four implications entail renewed perspectives of assessment principles, required attainment of language assessment literacy levels among stakeholders, provision of appropriate individual and institutional support for teachers and students, and ethical use of GenAI tools with portfolio assessment tasks.