Teaching English

The statement level

Students learn how to make up statements in the foreign language. To develop their skills in making statements the following procedure may be suggested:

1. Students are given sentence patterns to assimilate in connection with situations. The sentence pattern is filled with different words. Thus students can express different thoughts. For example:

I can see…

S1- I can see a picture

S2-I can see a cat

S3- I can see a box, etc.

2. Students perform various drill exercises within the given sentence patterns:

- substitution- I have a book ( a pen);

- extension- I have an interesting book. I have an interesting book at home.

- transformation- He as a book. He has no book.

- completion- If I have time, I'll…

Each pattern is repeated many times with a great variety of changes in its contents until the pattern becomes a habit.

3. Students make statements of their own in connection with the situations suggested by the teacher .For example:

Give it a name

Teacher: We write with it

Student: It is a pen

Say the opposite

Teacher: I like apples

Student: I don't like apples .He likes apples (points to somebody in the class)

The utterance level

Students are taught how to use different sentence patterns in an utterance about an object or a topic. First they follow the model, then they do it without any help. The utterance involves 2-4 sentences which logically follow one another. At this stage students learn to express their thoughts, their attitude to what they say using various sentence patterns. Thus they learn how to put several sentences together in one utterance. For example:

Teacher: Say a few words about this object (shows it)

Student: This is a pencil. The pencil is green. It is on the table. I like the pencil.

The discourse level

After students have learned how to say a few sentences in connection with the situation they are prepared for speaking at the discourse level. At this level students are asked to speak on the picture, a set of pictures, a film-strip, a film, comment on a text they have read or heard, make up a story of their own. Of course this should be done within the language material (grammar and vocabulary) students have assimilated. For example:

Tell the classmates about your visit to…; Look at the picture of…Tell us what you know about the man (woman).

So, in teaching monolog the teacher instructs students how to make statements, then how to combine various sentences in one utterance and finally how to speak on a suggested topic.

11.3 Activities for teaching monolog

Some of the activities for teaching monolog at the different stages of instruction are:

Personalities

The students are asked to think about their lives and the people they know. Each student should find at least two people who have influenced him in his life. He should note down some points in order to be able to tell the rest of the class briefly how these people have influenced him.

Lifestyle

Students bring three objects which are important or significant for them (drawings, photos, etc).Students explain why they are important.

Keep talking

There are slips of paper with a sentence and a topic written on them. A student chooses a slip of paper and has to talk for one minute about the topic beginning with the sentence on the piece of paper. For example: Pets- I used to have…; or Chewing gum- Animals don't chew chewing gum.

Newspaper headlines

Student tells the full story looking at the headlines. For example: Plane crashes in Columbia or Princess runs away with gardener.

Imagine…

Imagine you are in the public place (restaurant). Explain what you and the other people around you are doing. It is a good activity for practicing the Present Continuous tense.

Speech

Write a short speech, using as many words and word forms from the list as possible.

11.4 Testing monolog and dialog skills

Evaluation of learners' speaking skills is conducted constantly during every lesson and regularly after finishing a unit of the textbook. The teacher pays attention to such aspects as fluency and accuracy.

Fluency- speaking at normal speed without hesitation, repetition or self-correction and with the smooth use of connected speech.

Accuracy- speaking using correct forms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Scale of oral testing criteria

Accuracy	scores	Fluency	scores
Little or no language produced	1	Little or no communication	1
Poor vocabulary, mistakes in basic grammar, may have very strong foreign accent	2	Very hesitant and brief utterances, sometimes difficult to understand	2
Adequate but not rich vocabulary, makes obvious grammar mistakes, slight foreign accent	3	Gets ideas across, but hesitantly and briefly	3
Good range of vocabulary, occasional grammar slips, slight foreign accent	4	Effective communication in short turns	4
Wide vocabulary appropriately used, a few grammar mistakes, slight foreign accent	5	Easy and effective communication, uses long turns.	5

Total score out of 10……………..

11.5 Suggestions for teachers

Here are some suggestions for English language teachers while teaching oral language:

-Provide maximum opportunity to students to speak the target language by providing a rich environment that contains collaborative work, authentic materials and tasks, and shared knowledge;

-Try to involve each student in every speaking activity; for this aim, practice different ways of student participation;

-Reduce teacher speaking time in class while increasing student speaking time. Step back and observe students;

-Indicate positive signs when commenting on a student's response;

-Ask eliciting questions such as "What do you mean? How did you reach that conclusion?" in order to prompt students to speak more;

-Provide written feedback like "Your presentation was really great. It was a good job. I really appreciated your efforts in preparing the materials and efficient use of your voice…";

-Do not correct students' pronunciation mistakes very often while they are speaking. Correction should not distract student from his or her speech;

-Involve speaking activities not only in class but also out of class; contact parents and other people who can help;

-Circulate around classroom to ensure that students are on the right track and see whether they need your help while they work in groups or pairs;

-Provide the vocabulary beforehand that students need in speaking activities;

-Diagnose problems faced by students who have difficulty in expressing themselves in the target language and provide more opportunities to practice the spoken language.

Questions and topics for discussion

1. What types of monolog are taught in schools?

2. What are the requirements for teaching monolog at the different levels: statement, utterance, discourse?

3. Choose any activity for teaching monolog and perform it in the classroom

4. How are monolog and dialogic skills tested?

5. What suggestions for teaching speaking do you think are the most important?

Lecture 12. Teaching reading

Objectives: SWBAT examine and describe ways and forms of reading, analyze activities connected with the reading text.

12.1 Reading as an aim and means of teaching and learning a foreign language. Reading as a process

Reading is one of the practical aims of teaching a foreign language in schools. Reading is of great educational importance, as reading is a means of communication, people get information they need from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. Through reading students get acquainted with the countries where the target language is spoken. Reading develops their intelligence, memory, will, imagination.

Reading is not only an aim in itself, it is also a means of learning a foreign language. When reading a text students review sounds, letters, vocabulary, grammar, memorize the spelling of words, the meaning of words and word combinations. If the students are fluent readers and their reading comprehension is good, they can easily acquire speaking and writing skills as well.

Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is.

Reader knowledge, skills, and strategies include:

Linguistic competence: the ability to recognize the elements of the writing system; knowledge of vocabulary; knowledge of how words are structured into sentences.

Discourse competence: knowledge of discourse markers and how they connect parts of the text to one another.

Sociolinguistic competence: knowledge about different types of texts and their usual structure and content.

Strategic competence: the ability to use strategies for developing reading skills.

12.2 Ways of reading

We read different texts in different ways, depending on the purpose of reading. There are four ways of reading: skimming, scanning, intensive reading, extensive reading.

Skimming

When reading, for example, a newspaper we often glance over the headlines until we find an article that catches our interest. If we are in a hurry we read through the article quickly- probably not reading every word, may be reading only the first sentence of each paragraph. When we do this we are skim reading for the general sense or the gist of the article. We want to know what's in the article but only on a rather superficial level.

Scanning

We may want to see what's on television this evening at 8 o' clock. We don't start reading from the beginning of the list of programs. Instead our eyes move quickly over the page until we find 8p.m. and then we start reading the details of the programs. In other words, we scan the page until we find what we are looking for.

Intensive reading

For example, in the newspaper we may find something that we want to read in detail. Perhaps the article we skim read at first is really interesting and we want to read it again, more slowly, taking in the information and perhaps even making a mental note of some of the details to tell someone about later. Or we may do the crossword-paying close attention to the clues in order to solve the puzzle. In both these instances we are reading for detail.

Extensive reading

This is the way we usually read when we are reading for pleasure-perhaps a novel or a biography.

12.3 Forms of reading

There are two forms of reading: aloud and silently. In teaching a foreign language in schools both forms are developed. Students usually start learning to read aloud.

Reading aloud

Teaching begins with presenting letters, letter combinations, words. Students should assimilate some rules of reading: how to read stressed vowels in open and closed syllables and before “r”, how to read consonants, etc. In teaching to read transcription is also used. It helps to read words in the cases where the same grapheme stands for different sounds: build, suit, or words which are read not according to the rule: aunt, colonel. At the very early stages of learning to read it is useful to give students practice in recognizing words. A simple way to do this is to write words on flashcards and give a task: choose words which are read not according to the rule, look at the words and name the letter which makes the word different, etc. At an early stage of teaching reading a teacher reads a sentence or a passage to the class himself. When the students have learnt to associate written symbols with the sounds they should read a sentence or a passage by themselves.

In reading aloud the teacher uses:

-Diagnostic reading (students read and he can see their week points in reading)

-Instructive reading (students follow the pattern read by the teacher or the speaker)

-Control or test reading (students read the text trying to keep as close to the pattern as possible)

Silent reading

If in reading aloud the reader focuses on pronunciation, the aim of silent reading is comprehension. Much attention should be given to the development of students' ability to guess and to use what they already know. Students should be encouraged to guess the meaning of unknown vocabulary, use visual clues: pictures, maps, etc. They should know about some reading strategies; know how to efficiently use dictionaries to find the meaning of unknown words and expressions. Activities for teaching silent reading are given below.

12.4 Activities connected with reading texts

1. Pre-reading activities

They familiarize the students with the topic, develop guessing skills, create expectations and interest in the text students are going to read.

Note: the students should see all the tasks before reading the text.

Some pre-reading activities are:

-Write the title/subtitle/first paragraph on the board. Have students partner and write three questions that they think the article might answer.

-Write the title of the article on the board. Have students make predictions about the article based upon the title.

-Write the names of the main characters on the board. Tell a little bit about the characters. Have students create a story based upon what you have shared.

-Select an article about a certain topic. Ask students what they know about the topic. Write the ideas on the board. Next ask them what they know about the topic. Write this in a column beside the first column. After they read the article, ask them what they learned about the topic (activity is known as K-W-L Chart: Know-want to know-Learned).

-Show students a picture from the text. Have them make predictions based upon the picture.

-Present vocabulary and then have students make predictions based upon the vocabulary.

2. Main idea activities

-Read to find out if students' predictions were correct;

-Have a list of statements about the article. Ask students to decide which of these statements are mentioned in the text;

-Write three titles on the board. Ask students to skim the text and select the best title;

-Show several photos. Have students read the text and decide which of these pictures are appropriate for the text;

-Skim the text and make up the title for the text;

-Read the text and match photos/titles/etc. to appropriate paragraphs in the text;

-Skim the text and sequence pictures according to the sequence in the text;

-Read to answer one or two general questions, T/F statements about the content of the text (not detailed);

-Read in order to answer questions students formulated before knowing the exact content of the text;

-Jigsaw reading - cut the text into several parts. Give each part to each group of students and have them read the text silently. Next have them summarize the section. Students put the text in the correct order.

3. Detailed activities

-True/false questions;

-Multiple choice questions;

-Matching questions to answers;

-Filling in a chart;

-Putting items in order (words, phrases, sentences, pictures);

-Filling in blanks (cloze activity, gap fill);

-Answering questions (more detailed);

-Categorizing (e.g. Advantages/Disadvantages);

-Note-taking under headings;

-Re-ordering jumbled text.

4.Follow up activities

-do a role play based upon the text;

-have a discussion based upon the theme of the text;

-write a letter to the author or a book review;

-share a personal anecdote on the same subject;

-select a function from the text and practice it;

-write response journals. Students write a summary of the article and then their opinions of it;

-display the information in another form (e.g. chart);

-write an alternative ending to the story.

12.5 Working with the text for teaching reading

It is desirable that texts for reading should meet the following requirements:

-be interesting and have something new for learners;

-be easy enough for comprehension;

-be clearly organized;

-have support in the form of titles, pictures, maps;

-contain structures and vocabulary familiar to the students;

-fit the level of students.

As reading, like listening, is a productive skill there are many similarities between the guidelines for using a listening and a reading text. In dealing with the text there are the following stages: pre- reading, while-reading, post- reading, follow- up.

Example of one way of working with a text for teaching reading comprehension:

Pre-reading (to arouse interest and help in comprehension)

1. teaching new vocabulary or key words;

2. prediction of the content of the text looking at the visual clues;

3. setting a task before the first reading.

For example: Choose the best headline among the three offered

First reading

Students read the text. After reading the teacher checks the task (choose the best headline) and sets other tasks (to check detailed understanding). Students see the tasks.

Second reading

Students read the text for the second time.

Post-reading (to check reading comprehension)

Students do the tasks that check their detailed comprehension of the text.

.Follow up

It may include discussion, writing a letter, role play, etc.

Questions and topics for discussion

1. What does it mean: “Reading is an aim and means of teaching and learning a foreign language'?

2. Prove, that reading is a process.

3. Speak on 4 ways of reading: skimming, scanning, intensive, extensive

4. Speak on 2 forms of reading: aloud and silent.

5. What pre-reading activities do you know? Which of them are used at the beginning level, intermediate level, advanced level?

6. What is the difference between main idea activities and detailed activities?

7. What is the aim of follow-up activities? How are they performed?

8. Study the example of working with the text for teaching reading. Choose a text and think of your own activities connected with the text.

Lecture 13. Teaching writing

Objectives: SWBAT state the importance of teaching writing, examine the rules for teaching penmanship, spelling and creative writing.

13.1 Writing as a skill. The importance of teaching writing

Teaching writing is one of the most important aspects of teaching a foreign language. Writing helps pupils to assimilate letters and sounds of the English language, its vocabulary and grammar; to develop skills and habits in speaking and reading. In the process of writing students learn that writing involves thinking, reflection and multiple revisions. Today more and more people need to learn to write in English for occupational or academic purposes. Writing remains the commonest way of examining student performance in English. All public examinations include writing an essay.

Writing skill is developed consistently and thoroughly being the most difficult skill for students of English as a foreign language to acquire. Researchers emphasize the following micro-skills involved in writing. The writer needs to:

-use the orthography correctly, including the script, and spelling and punctuation conventions;

-use the correct forms of words. This may mean using forms that express the right tense, or case or gender;

-put words together in correct order form;

-use vocabulary correctly;

-use the style appropriate to the genre and audience;

-make the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, and object, clear to the reader;

-make the main ideas distinct from supporting ideas or information;

-make the text coherent, so that other people can follow the development of the ideas;

Writing includes: penmanship (handwriting), spelling and composition (creative writing).

13.2 Teaching penmanship and spelling

The writing of the English letters does not present much trouble because there are a lot of similar letters in both languages. But some letters may be strange. Training in penmanship is made easier because in our schools we use the printed forms of letters. In teaching individual letters the teacher follows the steps:

write the letter clearly on the board;

say the name of the letter;

give the sound of the letter;

students draw the letter in the air;

students copy the letter in their note-books.

Consequently, training in penmanship implies: visual perception, observation accompanied by some explanations of the teacher, practice under the teacher's supervision in class, and independently at home.

The most difficult thing in learning to write is English spelling. The English spelling system is based upon the historical or conservative principle, when spelling reflects the pronunciation of earlier periods in the history f the language. The modern English spelling originated as early as the 15th century and has not been changed since then. The pronunciation has changed greatly during that time. Significant difference in pronunciation and spelling is the result. The students should know some rules governing spelling. For example:

-how to add s to words ending in y;

-how to add ed to the verb;

-how to add ing to the verb;

-how to add er, est in the comparative and superlative degrees;

-how to double the consonants;

-know the main word-building elements.

Some exercises for teaching spelling:

1.copying

On the one hand copying is a useful exercise, because students do not have to produce the words of their own, so their focus is entirely on handwriting. On the other hand it is a mechanical activity and soon becomes very boring. To make copying more challenging the teacher uses the technique called delayed copying. The teacher writes the word on the board and the students read it, then the teacher erases the word and the students write it.

Another way to make copying more interesting is by including a simple task for the students to do. For example: match words with pictures; put words in the correct order; match the questions with the answers, then write them out; copy the true sentences only; write the words in two lists; correct the facts and others. Including a task makes sure that students think about what they are copying and understand what the words mean; it also gives a reason for writing the words.

2. writing sentences on a given topic

The aim of this exercise is to develop students' spelling and to fix the linguistic material in their memory.

3. dictation

It is an intensive activity, which makes students concentrate. The teacher can keep good control of the class. It helps to develop listening as well as writing. On the other hand it takes a lot of time in class. It can be done quite mechanically, without real comprehension. It is also an unrealistic activity because listening is "word by word" and the speed is unnaturally slow.

4. spelling games and songs

13.3 Teaching creative writing

Creative writing implies expression of students' own thoughts in a foreign language in connection with a suggested situation or a topic within the linguistic material previously assimilated in speech and reading. Students may write different types of essays, letters, postcards, journals, descriptions, book reviews, poems, summaries, applications, resumes, etc. While learning to write students may experience some difficulties. For example:

-students can't select proper words as their vocabulary is poor;

-the inappropriate or colloquial vocabulary is used;

-students are unable to write in a paragraph form;

-fear of making grammar errors makes the writing process slow and unsuccessful;

-students can't use their personal experiences as a basis of writing a sequence from personal and concrete to impersonal and abstract.

The approach to writing used to be product-oriented. It means that the student tried to get his piece of writing right the first time (he had only one version). The teacher marked all the errors and wrote the notes about the logic and clarity of the work. As the student was doing nothing with the piece further he paid little attention to the teacher's comments.

From the research conducted during the past years there has emerged a process-oriented approach to teaching writing. Experts recognize that writing is a complex dynamic, nonlinear process. The process has a number of distinct stages. These include:

pre-writing

At this stage the writer gathers information. Activities may include: drawing, talking, thinking, reading, listening to tapes and records, discussion, interview, problem solving, conducting library research and so on. At this stage students must have a good grasp on what their ideas are and how they interact. Such pre-writing technique as clustering can help students to map out their thoughts on a topic or subject and then choose ones to use.

drafting

At this stage students develop their ideas on paper. In the process-oriented approach, the focus is on content, not the mechanics of writing. Separation of grammar and content is important. According to students' experience the beginning may be painful and difficult, they hesitate to put their thoughts on paper because of their fear of errors. Here the instruction of the teacher is invaluable. If the teacher is encouraging and supportive, students will go ahead and write, dealing with grammar errors later.

revising

At this stage students make all the changes they think are necessary. They may add, delete, change in syntax, sentence structure and organization and even start over completely.

The teacher helps students correct their mistakes. But the problem is that the students often want the teacher to completely take over all the correction of grammar. Here the students themselves must learn to take over the role of the teacher. Students can look up the word in the dictionary. Peer correction can also be effective.

Editing

At this stage students polish their drafts. They give attention to spelling, punctuation, grammar and hand writing.

To sum up, the new approaches in teaching writing emphasize it as a process, which has the following stages: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing.

13.4 Correcting written works

There are the following ways of correcting:

Self-correction- students check themselves before handing in a written work.

Peer correction- students correct each others works. This saves time for the teacher and is a useful technique that helps the students acquire the language.

Teacher correction- teacher underlines mistakes and uses symbols to identify types of errors. He writes positive comments concerning content, organization and presentation at the bottom of the page.

Symbol	Explanation
Sp	Spelling error
P	Punctuation error
V	Verb tense error
WF	Wrong word form
WO	Incorrect word order
WW	Wrong word used
AGR	Agreement(subject-verb, adjective-noun, noun-pronoun)
//	Paragraph needed
A	Something is missing
0	Good. Well done.
?	I don't understand

Lecture 14. Testing and evaluating students knowledge and skills

Objectives: SWBAT differentiate between different types of tests, examine the requirements for organization of self-evaluation.

14.1 The importance of testing and evaluating students' knowledge and skills

If the teacher gives feedback about students' performance at every lesson, he provides the students with the information they need to evaluate their own level and progress. When the teacher wants to make feedback more formal, he gives tests.

Testing is an important part of every teaching and learning experience. Tests tell the teacher what the students can and can't do, and what areas need to be taught in the future. They tell the learners how well they are progressing, and where they need to focus their attention as learners. Tests can display the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching process and help the teacher improve it. In order to compile a good test it is necessary that the test should be: valid, reliable, scorable, economic, administrable.

validity- the test is valid if it measures only the things the teacher has taught;

reliability- the test is reliable if the results are not accidental but reveal some stability;

scorable- if the test can be scored with ease;

economy- the test is economical if the amount of time given for completion of the test is reasonable;

administrable- if any teacher, not specially trained can conduct testing and if it doesn't require complicated equipment.

14.2 Types of tests

Tests may be objective or subjective. In objective tests (multiple choice, matching, fill-in, true or false) only one answer is correct. Objective tests produce reliable results, but they provide an assessment of a limited range of students' language ability

Multiple-choice type is considered to be the most effective of the objective types. It consists of two parts: a sentence with a missing word (this sentence is called a stem) and the list of possible answers. Only one answer is right; the others are called distractors. Distractors must be carefully chosen. They should be the same form of word as the correct answer; the right answer shouldn't be given through grammatical cues; only one answer should be given as a correct one.

Subjective tests (oral interview, written essay) can give some measure of ideas, vocabulary, culture, coherence, creativity, but they are more difficult to grade. Both subjective and objective types of tests should be given to the students.

There are other several types of tests:

1. aptitude test(prognostic)

It determines whether or not the person will be successful in language study. The test measures such factors as: short term memory, ability to associate sounds and pictures, ability to make structural generalizations (by recognizing the same part of speech, grammatical or communicative function in different sentences).

2. proficiency test

It measures what a person already knows in the target language whether or not he has studied the language in a formal learning situation. It measures the students' control of the language in the light of what he or she will do with it in the particular type of employment. Test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL), International English language testing system (IELTS) are the examples.

3. achievement test

It is used daily, weekly after the completion of a unit, module, or at the end of the academic year to determine what the students have learnt.

4. diagnostic test

It may be part of the achievement test. It notes strengths, weaknesses or problems in some area of knowledge or skill.

14.3 Testing language skills and language knowledge

The teacher can test language (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation) and skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing).

Testing focus	Subjective methods	Objective methods
listening	Open-ended questions and answers; note-taking; interviews	Gap-filling; information transfer; multiple-choice questions; true/false questions; jumbled pictures
speaking	Role-play; interview; group discussion; describing pictures; information-gap activities	Sentence repetition; sentence response to cues
Reading comprehension	Open-ended comprehension questions and answers; summary writing; note taking	Information transfer; multiple-choice questions; jumbled sentences; jumbled paragraphs; cloze
writing	Guided writing (letter completion, re-writing, information transfer). Free writing( essay)	Gap-filling; sentence joining
Grammar	Open-ended sentence completion; re-writing	Expansion exercises; scrambled exercises; transformation exercises; multiple-choice questions
vocabulary	Paraphrasing; writing a composition	Crosswords; matching; labeling; clarification exercises

14.4 Error correction

In teaching English as a foreign language it is common practice to distinguish between mistakes and errors.

Mistake is a slip of the tongue or the pen. The student is able to correct it himself or herself or with the help of the teacher or other students.

Error- when students make errors they believe that what they are saying or writing is correct; they don't know what the correct form should be.

Errors are normal and unavoidable during the learning process. Whether or not to correct errors depends on the objective of the activity. If the objective is to develop accuracy, correction is necessary. In this case the best approach is to allow the students to self-correct. If that doesn't work, the peers may correct. Only then the teacher can give the correct answer. If the objective of the activity is to develop fluency, the correction is not desirable. Constant interruptions can be irritating for students and evoke frustration discouragement and fear. If there are frequent errors or mistakes the teacher can make notes to provide feedback after the activity.

Some error correction strategies are:

ignore the error;

ask student to repeat;

correct with "teacher" voice;

correct with gestures;

ask learner to correct himself;

ask another student or whole class to correct;

go to the board to draw or write something;

refer students to past examples in the text;

repeat the utterance with question intonation;

repeat with word up to error;

note the errors;

make open "remedial" sessions.

5. Organization of self-evaluation. Portfolio as a means of self-evaluation.

The classroom teacher has the decisive role in assessing students. However, educators have come to realize that alternative forms of assessment are an important means of gaining a dynamic picture of students' academic and linguistic development. The alternative assessment techniques are: oral interview, non-verbal response (physical responses, drawing charts), role-play, dramatization, conference, journals, self-evaluation, portfolio.

Self-evaluation is a technique for judging the quality of the work by the students based on evidence and explicit criteria for the purpose of doing better work in the future. Students should be taught to self-evaluate. At first the teacher and the students define the criteria that will be used to judge their performance. Then the students are taught how to apply the criteria to their own work. Then the teacher gives feedback on their self-evaluation. And finally the teacher helps students develop goals and action plans to increase their achievements.

The concept of portfolio was borrowed from the field of fine arts where portfolios are used to display the best samples of an artist's work.

In language teaching portfolio is a collection of student's work. Portfolio requires close cooperation between the teacher and the student in identifying the samples of student's work to be included. The portfolio of a young learner might include: audio taped or videotaped recordings, writing samples, conference or observation notes, charts, drawings, self-assessment check lists, samples of tests and quizzes. Portfolio can serve as an alternative means of assessment because they provide the teacher with a detailed picture of a student's language performance in a variety of different tasks.

One of the benefits of portfolio assessment is the promotion of learner reflection. Students are asked to think about their needs, goals, weaknesses and strengths in language learning. They are also asked to select their best work and explain why that work was beneficial to them. Learner reflection allows students to contribute their own insights about their learning to the assessment process. Without reflection, the portfolio remains a folder of the papers.

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