Luận văn Thạc sĩ Using writing portfolios to improve grade 10th students’ writing skill An action research project in a high school in Hadong district

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES


NGUYỄN VÂN NGUYỆT

USING WRITING PORTFOLIOS TO IMPROVE GRADE 10TH
STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL- AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN HADONG DISTRICT
(SỬ DỤNG TẬP HỒ SƠ ĐỂ CẢI THIỆN KĨ NĂNG VIẾT CHO HỌC SINH LỚP
10- NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG Ở
HÀ ĐÔNG )

MA. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8045041.01

Hanoi – 2020


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES


NGUYỄN VÂN NGUYỆT

USING WRITING PORTFOLIOS TO IMPROVE GRADE 10TH
STUDENTS’ WRITING SKILL- AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN HA DONG DISTRICT

(SỬ DỤNG TẬP HỒ SƠ ĐỂ CẢI THIỆN KĨ NĂNG VIẾT CHO HỌC SINH LỚP
10- NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG PHỔ THÔNG Ở
HÀ ĐÔNG )

MA. MINOR THESIS

Field:
EnglishTeaching Methodology
Code:
8045041.01
Supervisor: Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã

Hanoi – 2020


DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled "Using writing portfolios to improve grade 10th students’writing skill- An
action research project in a high school in Ha Dong disstrict" submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Post- graduate
Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National
University of Hanoi. I confirm that I cited all references in the study. Except where
the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2020

Nguyễn Vân Nguyệt

Approved by
SUPERVISOR
(Signature and full name)

Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã

Date:...............................................

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from
a number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Vu
Thi Thanh Nha, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me
through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and
suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher.
Next, I wish to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to all
lectures and the staff of Department of Post- Graduate Studies at University of
Languages and International Studies, Hanoi, for their inspiring lectures and
suggestions for the topic of my study. My appreciation and gratitude are also
extended for the teachers and students from class 10 D1 at Tran Hung Dao High
School in Ha Dong for their active participation in my research.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my husband and my
children for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work.

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ABSTRACT
This research investigates the problems in teaching and learning writing skill
at a high school in Ha Dong district and the implementation of writing portfolios to
improve students’ writing skill. It aims to find out how teachers can use writing
portfolios to improve grade 10th students’ writing skill and students’ attitudes
towards the implementation of writing portfolios in class. Three cycles of action
research was conducted with a class of thirty six students, and the data were
collected using questionnaires, teaching diaries, students’ portfolios and interviews.
The findings indicated students lacked time for practising the skill, had poor
background knowledge including lexical- grammar and idea limitations, and low
motivation. The application of writing portfolios has helped students improve their
writing performance in task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource
and grammatical range and accuracy. At the end of the project, most of the
participants expressed a strong consensus that writing portfolios not only had
positive impacts on their writing skills but also created a positive attitude towards
the subject English.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................ viii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... ix
LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................... x
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 1
1.1. Rationale..................................................................................................... 1

1.2. Aims and objectives of the study ............................................................... 2
1. 3. Scope of the study ..................................................................................... 2
1.4. Significance of the study ............................................................................ 2
1.5. Methods of the study .................................................................................. 3
1.6. Organization of the thesis........................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................... 5
2. 1. Writing skills ............................................................................................ 5
2.1.1. Definitions of writing ............................................................................. 5
2.1.2. Approaches to teaching writing ............................................................. 6
2.1.3. Genres of writing..................................................................................... 7
2.1.3.1. Definition of genre ............................................................................... 7
2.1.3.2. Common types of writing genres in the new textbooks....................... 7

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2.2. Teaching writing ........................................................................................ 8
2.2.1. Improving students’ ability in writing ................................................... 8
2.2.2. The role of teachers in teaching writing ................................................. 9
2.3. Assessing writing .................................................................................... 10
2.3.1. Types of writing assessment ................................................................ 10
2.3.2. Type of scoring for students’ writing assignments ............................... 11
2.4. Using portfolios in writing class .............................................................. 12
2.4.1. Definitions of portfolio ......................................................................... 12
2.4.2. Types of portfolio .................................................................................. 13
2.4.3. The implementation of portfolio assessment in teaching writing ......... 14
2.4.4. Portfolio assessment procedure ............................................................. 15
2.4.5. Related studies on writing portfolio ...................................................... 16
2.5. Summary .................................................................................................. 18
CHAPTER 3 : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................... 19

3.1. Research setting ....................................................................................... 19
3.1.1. The research site .................................................................................... 19
3.1.2. Description of textbook, curriculum, testing and assessment............... 19
3.2. Participants ............................................................................................... 20
3.3. Research design ........................................................................................ 20
3.3.1. Research method ................................................................................... 20
3.3.2. Action research...................................................................................... 21
3.3.3. Research procedure ............................................................................... 22
3.3.3.1. Identifying the field problems (week 1)............................................. 22
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3.3.3.2. Planning (week 2) .............................................................................. 23
3.3.3.3. Acting and Observing the Actions (week 3- week 17) ...................... 23
3.3.3.4. Reflection ........................................................................................... 27
3.4. Data collection instruments ...................................................................... 28
3.4.1. Pre- test and a collection of students’ writing assignments .................. 28
3.4.2. Pre- treatment and post- treatment questionnaire ................................. 28
3.4.3. Teaching diaries .................................................................................... 29
3.4.4. Semi- structured interviews ................................................................. 30
3.5. Data analysis ............................................................................................ 30
3.6. Summary of the chapter ........................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ....................................... 32
4.1. Research question 1: ................................................................................ 32
4.1.1. Identifying the field problems: conducting a pre- test and pretreatment questionnaire ................................................................................... 32
4.1.2. Determining actions to overcome the problems ................................... 41
4.1.3. Acting and observing the actions .......................................................... 41
4.1.3.1. Summary of Cycle 1........................................................................... 41
4.1.3.2. Summary of Cycle 2........................................................................... 42
4.1.3.3. Summary of Cycle 3........................................................................... 43

4.1.4. Reflection .............................................................................................. 44
4.1.4.1. Findings of cycle 1 ............................................................................. 44
4.1.4.2. Findings of cycle 2 ............................................................................. 49

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4.1.4.3. Findings of cycle 3 ............................................................................. 53
4.1.4.4. Summary of the findings of three cycles ........................................... 56
4.2. Research question 2: ................................................................................ 60
4.2.1. Students’ opinions about the benefits of writing portfolios on their
writing skills in general and impacts of writing portfolios based on four
criteria in particular ......................................................................................... 60
4.2.2. Students’ opinions about the advantages of scoring rubric and teacher’s
feedback on their writing assignments ............................................................ 62
4.2.3. Students’ opinions about the clarity of teacher’s instructions during the
project .............................................................................................................. 63
4.2.4. Students’ attitudes towards the implementation of writing portfolios in
the next semester. ............................................................................................ 65
4.3. Discussions ............................................................................................... 67
4.4. Summary .................................................................................................. 68
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 69
5.1. Recapitulation .......................................................................................... 69
5.1.1. Research question 1: ............................................................................. 69
5.1.2. Research question 2: ............................................................................. 70
5. 2. Implications ............................................................................................. 71
5.3. Limitations of the study ........................................................................... 71
5.4. Suggestions for further studies ................................................................. 71
REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 73
APPENDICES

vii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AR: Action Research
%: Percentage
MA: Master of Arts
GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education
VNU: Vietnam National University
MOET: the Minister of Education and Training
CEFR: Common European Framework for Reference

viii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Schedure for the requirement tasks in the coursebook .............. 24
Table 2. Students’ responses in the pre- treatment questionnaire .......... 36
Table 3. Field problems that were feasible to solve ................................... 39
Table 4. Student achievements for writing task 1

…………………………..46

Table 5. Student achievements for writing task 2 ...................................... 50
Table 6. Student achievements for writing task 3......................................... 51
Table 7. Student achievements for writing task 4......................................... 54
Table 8. Student achievements for writing task 5 ...................................... 54
Table 9. The summary of changes of the teaching and learning process 58

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Procedure in applying portfolio ................................................. 15
Figure 2. Students’ perception of their writing skill improvement after
applying portfolios ........................................................................................ 61
Figure 3. Students’ opinions about the improved criteria ........................ 61
Figure 4. Students’ opinions about the clarity of the teacher’s
instructions ..................................................................................................... 63
Figure 5. Students’ opinions about keeping writing portfolios in the
future .............................................................................................................. 65

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Tran Hung Dao High School is a small school located in the suburb of Ha
Noi. Compared with students from other schools in Ha dong, students in my school
have the lowest grades in the entrance exam not only in English but in other
subjects due to several reasons such as poor background knowledge and low
motivation in learning. At school, students have a tendency to focus in some
subjects like Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Liturature etc..... Most of them do not
pay much time and effort to learn English and they always consider English is a
difficult subject therefore they feel stressed to attend English lessons. Like other
schools, under the plan of implementing Pilot English curriculum for Vietnamese
Upper Secondary Schools with a serie of three new English textbooks (Tiếng Anh

10, Tiếng Anh 11, Tiếng Anh 12), students in all classes in Tran Hung Dao high
school are being taught and learnt English with this set of curriculum. The main
goals of the new English textbooks are to help students improve their language
ability and the communicative competence through four skills (listening, speaking,
reading and writing) so that after finishing upper- secondary school, students will
achieve level three of the Vietnamese Language Competence Framework
(equipvalent to B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages). Among the four basic skills, writing is considered one of the most
difficult skills for my students because of students’ low level competence, lack of
vocabulary and ideas in organising and expanding the tasks and especially due to
the time constraint for practising the skill not only in class but also at home. To be
an English teacher in this school, I really concern about why my students can not
learn writing skills efficiently. While searching for a possible solution, I regconize
that the innovations in English language teaching has led to the change in the
method of teaching writing from the traditional way of the end product-oriented
approach to the process of creating writing (Tabatabaei & Assefi, 2012). Therefore,
a writing portfolio has been commonly used as an effective tool for improving and

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assessing students’writing skills. I also believe that this method would give
students a great chance to be more active learners. For those aforementioned
reasons, I decided to carry out the research : “Using writing portfolios to improve
grade 10th students’ writing skill- An action research project in a high school in
Ha Dong district”.
1.2. Aims and objectives of the study
This research was carried out with an aim to find out how the teacher can
apply writing portfolios to improve students’ writing skills and discover the
effectiveness of the application of writing portfolios on students’ writing

performance in four assessment criteria namely task achievement, coherence and
cohesion, lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy. In addition, the
study also investigated students’ attitudes towards the use of writing portfolios in
class. With the given aims and objectives, the study aimed to answer two research
questions:
1. To what extent can writing portfolios help to improve students’ writing skill?
2. What are students’ attitudes towards the implementation of writing portfolios to
improve their writing skill?
1. 3. Scope of the study
The research aims to investigate the effectiveness of writing portfolios on
students’ writing skill. Due to the time constraints, the researcher only focuses on
the impacts of writing portfolios on grade 10th students’ writing performance and
discover their opinions towards writing portfolios. Hence, teaching of other skills or
other grades would be beyond the scope.
1.4. Significance of the study
The study is designed with the hope to examine the impact of applying
writing portfolios to lessen the difficulty students encounter in learning writing
skills. Furthermore, the researcher also expects to show an example of how writing

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portfolios can be adopted in a Vietnamese high school context. Additionally, there
have never been any studies on the impacts of using writing portfolios in Tran Hung
Dao high school before, therefore, the results of the study may become a suggestion
for the leading staffs in this school to accept portfolios in school official curricula in
the future.
1.5. Methods of the study
Action research was adopted in this study by the researcher and also the
teacher, therefore, writing portfolios would be applied directly into the class where

the researcher was teaching. Also, both qualitative and quantitative data collection
are applied in this study. In terms of quanlitative method, interviews with students
are used to gather students’opinions about the use of writing portfolios in class. The
data analysis from teaching diaries would help to understand more the students’
improvement in writing skill. Regarding of quantitative method, questionnaires and
students’ writing assignments are employed. Both the methods are triangulated to
get the validity and reliability of the research, therefore, the results from students’
submitted portfolios would be compared with the data collected in the interviews
and questionnaires.
1.6. Organization of the thesis
The study is divided into three parts:
Chapter 1, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale for the study, the aims and
objectives, the research questions, the scope, the methods, the significance, and the
design of the study.
Chapter 2, LITERATURE REVIEW, provides an overview of the theoretical
background and the previous researches related to the study.
Chapter 3, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, restates the research questions and
describes the setting, the participants, and the research methods of the study.

3


Chapter 4, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS, displays a detailed discription of data
analysis. Besides, the chapter also presents some discussion and interpretations of
the findings of the study, and then gives suggestions for the teachers and the
students and other researchers.
CHAPTER 5, CONCLUSION, briefly summarizes the study, the recommendations
are proposed and makes some suggestions for further studies.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides a theoretical framework for writing and using portfolios in
teaching writing. It will look at the overview of writing skills, teaching writing,
assessing writing, and using writing portfolios.
2. 1. Writing skills
2.1.1. Definitions of writing
In language teaching, reading and listening are seen as receptive skills
whereas speaking and writing skill are productive skills for the reason that learners
have to produce their own piece of writing or speech act. Among those skills,
writing is often considered as one of the most challenging skills even for native
speakers. In terms of writing skill, there are numerous definitions related to this. In
the first place, writing is considered as “an act of forming graphic symbols”.
(Byrne, 1979, p.1). On the other hand, Clark (2003) saw writing as “an act of
communication between writer and audience” (2007, p.10). Moreover, writing can
be seen as a complicated process by some researchers like Lannon (1989) and
Candlin and Hyland (1999). Lannon (1989, p.9) states that “writing is a process of
transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accidents, trial and
error, or whatever a message with a definite meaning….. writing is a process of
deliberate decision”. Candlin and Hyland saw it as “ a social process where the
production of texts reflects methodology, arguments, and rhetorical strategies
constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made” ( p.
107).
Moreover, writing is also assumed as language taught skill. Oshima and
Hogue (1991) argued that it requires learners’study and practice to develop that
skill. Tribble (1996, p.3) defines writing “a language skill which is difficult to
acquire” and “writing normally requires some forms of instructions” ( p.11).

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In short, writing itself can be implied as an act, a social process or a skill
which requires a lot of time for practising and in the writing process, learners
should collaborate with the teacher as well as other learners to better their language
outcome. Moreover, the teacher should be ready to assist students to develop their
ability and to master this skill.
2.1.2. Approaches to teaching writing
Appeared in the 1960s, a product approach is “a traditional approach in which
students are encouraged to mimic a model text, usually is presented and analyzed at an
early stage” (Gabrielatos, 2002, p.5). Teachers who follow the product approach
usually provide students a text to imitate, collect their final products and give them
back for further revision with the mistakes corrected already by teachers or marked to
be corrected by students. In other words, a product approach focuses on the final
product but not the writing process or the learners themselves.
Later in the 1980s, there was a change from product approach to process
approach which puts more emphasis on the writing process rather than the final
product itself. According to Oshima and Hogue (1997), the process of writing
consists of four major steps which are prewriting, planning, writing and revising
drafts, and writing the final product. In the first step, writers are expected to
generate ideas for the topic. Then, in the next planning step, they will organize and
outline their ideas. In the last steps, the writers are asked to write and revise several
drafts until they produce the final piece of writing. Oshima and Hogue (1997)
believe that the writer should revise and rewrite their writing for several times
before coming to the final product as there is no perfect writing at the first time.
Similar to their view, Harmer (2004) states that the writing process has four
main stages to produce a good writing, which are planning, drafting, editing and
final version.

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Furthermore, Tribble (1996) also shares the same idea and looks at writing as
a process consisting of a number of steps in which the writer is “an independent
producer of texts” (Tribble, 1996, p. 37).
To sump up, the process approach emphasizes the writing process consisting
of numerous stages and in general, students who follow this approach are looked at
as independent producers and are provided a great chance of showing their
creativity in writing.
2.1.3. Genres of writing
2.1.3.1. Definition of genre
“Genre” is a term that comes from the French language, meaning “kind” or
“type”. In terms of the language and linguistics, there are many definitions for this
term. Martin (1999) states that genre is a communication activity having and
orienting goal. Then, Swales (1990) simply defines genre is a communication event
in which the members have a set of communication goal. In English teaching, a
genre is a text type (spoken or written) that has a distinctive form and content and
which is socio- culturally recognizable. It is said to be essential for students to
understand the forms and norms of genres because this could be the vital path to
understand the ways of thinking and ways of doing in the fields they are entering. In
addition, it is said that the writing genre usually defines the organization of the
content as well as its purpose.
In short, a “genre” makes use of unique features that will differentiate it from
other genres or types of writing. It is up to you as the writer to ensure that you
clearly understand the formal and type of writing that is expected in your particular
situation.
2.1.3.2. Common types of writing genres in the new textbooks
Based on the purpose of writing, students’ writings can be divided into four
kinds namely narrative writing (telling what happens), descriptive writing

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(describing people, places, things, moments, and theories), expository (informing or
sharing knowledge) and persuasive writing (convincing or persuading). Sharing the
same view, O’ Malley and Pierce propose that there are three kinds of students’
writings namely informative writing, expressive/ narrative writing and persuasive
writing (O’ Malley & Pierce, 1996, pp. 137- 138).
Referring to the types of writing in English 10 new textbook, Thuy Trang
Nguyen (2018) stated that although there seems to have numerous types of writing
genres, actually there are two main types which are classified based on forms and
paragraph writing in this textbook. In the first type (often known as guided writing),
students are usually provided with different model writings and input to explore the
forms, language and structures before creating quite similar products. In the latter
form, after learning the form and structures of the model text, students are often
required to produce a piece of writing in the form of a paragraph of various genre
types about several topics. The new English textbook Volume 1 for grade 10th
students includes five units of different topics and two reviews after 2 or 3 units.
Totally, there consist of two formal letters (Unit 2 and Unit 4), a narrative paragraph
and an informative one (Unit 1 and Unit 5) and a biography (Unit 3). In the writing
lesson, students will learn to produce a narrative writing or an expository writing of
about 130- 150 words about different kind of topics.
In brief, despite the different kinds of the requirement task, the main purpose
of the writing part is to teach students know how to produce a good paragraph in
English. The reseacher also hopes creating a writing portfolio would give students
more chances to practise their writing skill under the light of writing process
approach.
2.2. Teaching writing
2.2.1. Improving students’ ability in writing
Writing, along with other skills like reading, listening and speaking, has

always formed part of the syllabus in teaching English. Improving students’ ability

8


in writing requires a complicated intellectual undertaking both from the teacher and
the learners as it consists of a process such as prewriting, writing, revising, editing
and publishing. According to Heaton, J.B. (1975, p.138), if there is students’
improvement in writing ability, it can be showed by some indicators as follow:
a. Students are able to write correct sentences
b. Students are able to manipulate sentences and use language efficiently
c. Students are able to use correctly those conventions perculiar to the written
language
d. Students have ability to write in an appropriate manner for a particular purpose
with a particular audience in their mind together with an ability to select, organize,
and order relevant information
2.2.2. The role of teachers in teaching writing
In teaching writing, there are roles of teachers which can help students
produce good writings. In the classroom the teacher has to be a responder to the
students’ writing (Brown, 2001). Brown says that, as a facilitator, a teacher has to
give guidance to the students while they are writing but they can not force the
students to follow their thoughts to be applied on their writing. In addition, Harmer
(2001) emphasized several additional roles of teachers and assumed that a teacher
acts as motivator, resource and feedback provider.
Breen and Candlin (1980) in Nunan (1998, p.87) also shared the same view
and suggested that in teaching learning process, teachers can play numerous roles.
They can act as facilitator, participant, observer and learner. In my research, the
teacher’s role is to instruct students, facilitate and evaluate students’ achievement in
writing skill.

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2.3. Assessing writing
2.3.1. Types of writing assessment
Assessment is regarded as a process of collecting, synthesizing and
interpreting information in order to make decisions on students’ performance.
According to Hyland (2003, p.211) assessment is used to collect information on a
learner’s language ability or achievement. In teaching and learning language,
especially in writing skills, teachers can apply some kinds of assessment including
the traditional and the alternative assessment to measure students’ progress or
achievement. While traditional assessment requires students to select a possible
answer from a list of different options, which means learners’ products are rated at
sentence level only, alternative assessment requires learners to perform, produce or
do something at text level. In other words, the characteristics of the traditional
assessment is the emphasis on the correct answers as well as the final products
whereas the second one emphasizes both process and product and is used to
measure students’ability over time. Portfolio, performance, self- evaluation,
journals and cooperative learning are some types of alternative assessment.
Furthermore, Yancey (1999) divided writing assessment into three types:
indirect assessment (testing), direct assessment, and portfolio assessment. In terms
of indirect assessment, test takers are required to answer multiple choice questions
about grammar, usage, and punctuation. Although that kind of assessment has
widely been used because it is easy to administer, less costly, and reliable, it still
lacks validity as it is not measuring what it is supposed to measure. Regarding to the
second type of assessment, direct assessment is the writing where students are
required to write on a certain topic for a specified length of time. The last type of
assessment that is mentioned is portfolio assessment which includes samples of
students’ products produced over a period of time.

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In brief, among different types of alternative assessment, portfolios are
considered a better tool for student learning (Yang, 2003). He also claimed that
portfolio has become a popular trend of alternative assessment in recent years.
2.3.2. Type of scoring for students’ writing assignments
Generally, teachers can score students’ writing products based on three main
kinds of assessments: primary trait scoring, holistic assessment, and analytic
assessment.
In terms of primary trait scoring, Wolcott and Legg (1998, p.100) defined
that “Primary trait scoring is based on the idea that different discourse modes place
different demands on the writer in terms of purpose and audience”.
Regarding to holistic scoring, Terry (1989, p.49) stated that “Since, in
holistic scoring, the entire written text is evaluated as a whole, it is important to
establish the specific criteria upon which the evaluation is to be based prior to
undertaking the evaluation. This does not mean establishing a catalogue of precise
individual errors that might appear, but rather deciding what impact the errors that
are present have on the overall tone, structure, and comprehensibility of the writing
sample”. In other words, holistic scoring is the process of assigning a single score to
each writing script through judging it against a scoring rubric and the writing script is not
evaluated in terms of specific features related to development, content or mechanics.
The last type of scoring method is analytical based on analyzing writing into
some basic elements such as content, development, and vocabulary so that students can
receive feedback regarding the strengths as well as the weaknesses of their writing
(Wolcott & Legg, 1998).
Generally, holistic scoring is applied to assess students’ writing assignments
with one single score by judging the whole text. The purpose of this method is to
assess the learner’s overall proficiency. Hyland (2003) supposes that this method
concentrates on what writer can do rather than identifying the learner’s deficencies.

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Although this kind of method is simple and easy to use with larger class, it is
claimed to be undervalue the process in which learners plan their writing. Besides,
primary trait scoring is used to assess a particular aspect of writing, or a specific
linguistic form, it also allows teachers and learners to focus more on their feedback
and comment specifically. Regarding to the last type of scoring method, Weigle
(2002) defines analytical scoring method as a way to evaluate students’ writing
products based on some specific aspects of writing such as content, organization,
vocabulary, language use and mechanics. The idea lie in the fact that writing quality
is not judged as a holistic unified scale but as a combination of specific distinct
features. As this scoring method is believed to be more effective in diagnosing
learner writing performance than holistic and primary trait scoring, it will be
utilized in this study.
2.4. Using portfolios in writing class
2.4.1. Definitions of portfolio
The concept of portfolio development was adopted from the field of fine arts
where portfolios are used to display illustrative samples of an artist's work (Moya &
O’Malley, 1994). There are various definitions for portfolios. For example, a
portfolio may appear as simply a collection of work that has been compiled over a
period of time (Johnson, 2010, p.5). Hamp- Lyons (1991) shares the same view as
he stated that a portfolio is a collection of texts that the writer has produced over a
defined period of time. Paulson, Paulson and Meyer (1991, p.60) defined portfolio
as “a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s effort,
progress, and achievements in one or more areas. The collection must include
student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for
judging merit and evidence of student self- reflection”.
In brief, a portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibit

students’ efforts, progress and achievement in one or more areas. Portfolios provide
a way of assessing students’ writing skills that is quite different from the traditional

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methods. To be more specific, traditional achievements tests offer outcome in a unit
that can be counted whereas portfolio assessment offer the teachers chances to
observe students in a broader context; taking risks, promoting creativity, and
learning to make judgements about their own performance. It is a portfolio when
students are taking part in as participants, not the object of assessment. This study
aims at using portfolio assessment in teaching and assessing students’ writing, so
the researcher is in favor of Weigle’s definition “A portfolio is a collection of
writing texts written for different purposes over a period of time”. (Weigle, 2002,
p.198)
2.4.2. Types of portfolio
A portfolio is the collection of students’ works, including examples of their
first drafts or the last ones,therefore, they tend to mean different things to different
people and by no means standardized to suit every student’s need. In fact, the types
of portfolios are varied depending on their purposes and collected items covered in
it. Consequently, many researchers offer different classifications of portfolios.
According to Mandell and Michelson (1990), portfolios are classified into three
types including Showcase, Cumulative and Process. Specifically, showcase
portfolios are designed to display a student’s best product. In other words, this kind
of portfolio contains student’s best work determined through a student- teacher
collaborative selection and it is also named as “achievement portfolio” (Trotman,
2004, p.64). Regarding to cumulative portfolios, learners can place all work relevant
to each objective into their portfolio. The last type of portfolio is process portfolio
in which students can place pre/ post- samples of work for each objective. Venn
(2000) classifies portfolios into two types: Product portfolio which is used to

document accomplishment and Process portfolio which documents the stages of
learning and provides a progressive record of student’s growth. In general, teachers
prefer to use process portfolios because they are ideal for documenting the stages
that students go through as they learn and progress (Venn, 2000, p.533).

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