Test usefulness of E-Portfolios: An alternative approach during and beyond the pandemic

E-Portfolios are digital dossiers, which showcase language learners’ efforts, growth, and achievements. Although they are widely adopted for instruction, their usefulness for evaluation remains underexplored. This chapter intends to review the test usefulness of e-Portfolios as an alternative assessment approach. First, the chapter describes the definitions, features, and applications of e-Portfolios, and explains why e-Portfolio assessment is considered a viable option during the pandemic. Second, it reveals the rationale for alternative assessment relating to e-Portfolios. Third, it takes a closer look at the notion of test usefulness by discussing four interrelated test qualities, namely validity, reliability, washback, and practicality. Fourth, the chapter evaluates a contextualised e-Portfolio programme with these four test qualities. Fifth, it reveals the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic if e-Portfolio assessment is applied in language classrooms. Lastly, the chapter ends with implications that inform the theory, research, and practice of e-Portfolios.