Writing portfolio and the teaching and learning of writing as a process: Opportunities and challenges

1. Writing portfolio and the teaching and learning of writing as a process: Opportunities and challenges Albert Wong

2. An examination-oriented mentality An examination-oriented mentality prevailed in local schools and it shaped and determined teaching practices across the curriculum (Morris, 1992). How far is this true with the teaching of language in general and the teaching of writing in particular?

3. The teaching of writing in primary schools • One-shot writing • Ss were allowed time to write one draft only • Little or no time was provided for the students to revise their texts • Writing was treated as a form of testing as opposed to a way of learning • The whole purpose of writing was entirely examination-oriented (Tse, 1993)

4. The teaching of writing in secondary schools • One-shot writing • Most teachers did not allow extra time for students to revise their texts • Teachers generally believed that errors determine the quality of writing • The purpose was to teach students to produce error free sentences Sengupta (1996)

5. The current traditional approach to teaching writing Silva’s observation that “the formalist oriented current traditional approach is still dominant in ESL / L2 writing material and classroom practices today” appears to be applicable to the situation in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Silva (1990)

6. Portfolio “A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas. The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student self-reflection”. Paulson, Paulson and Meyer (1991: 60)

7. Key features of a portfolio approach to teaching / learning and assessing writing • Continuous and cumulative as opposed to one-shot • Emphasis on the learning enhancement purpose of assessment • Increased attention to formative rather than summative aspects • More frequent provision of descriptive comment and constructive feedback • Less reliance on assessment by teachers alone and more involvement of self and peers • Increased focus on teaching writing as a process Holroyd (2000)

8. Key features of a process approach to teaching / learning writing • Multiple draft • Provision of formative feedback (written or verbal or both) • Provision of opportunities for alternative assessment • Focus on “revision” as opposed to “editing” • Increased attention given to idea generation and creativity

9. A Case Study

10. The context of research • A secondary school in a suburban district • A relatively young school with Band 3 intake • Four English teachers teaching Form 4 participated in the study • Graduate teachers trained to teach English as a major subject • Teaching experience ranges from 1 to 4 years • Mixed language ability classes • “Naturalistic” research setting

11. The portfolio • All Form 4 classes participated • A “trial run” taking 3 teaching cycles • The theme was on “travelling” • 3 short writing tasks leading to a longer writing task • Ample scaffolding provided by way of pre-tasks with a specific focus on learning vocabulary and idea generation • Students wrote 3 drafts for each of the writing tasks • Teachers provided both written and verbal comments for each writing task

12. Key features of implementation • A co-meeting every cycle • Teachers worked in close collaboration in line with the “lesson study” approach (Hiebert & Stigler, 1999) • Teachers made use of quizzes as “check points” • Students kept process logs • Students were taught to make use of mind maps to plan their writing

13. Strengths • Students became more confident writers • They were able to write longer texts with richer contents • A number of students were able to overcome their “writer’s block” (Rose, 1984) • Students were more prone to responding to the formative feedback provided by the teachers and making revisions to their texts

14. Strengths • Teachers were provided with useful and timely feedback on the effectiveness of their teaching and were able to adjust their teaching to cater for individual learner differences • Teachers were able to understand their students much better • Teachers were able to work collaboratively with and learn from their peers

15. Constraints and opportunities • Time and effort • Provision of further scaffolding to support writing / learning • Focus more on “reading to write” • Greater learner autonomy • A greater focus upon alternative assessment

16. Implications • Writing as a means of learning as opposed to writing for display • What time can buy • Teacher collaboration • Building on existing strengths • Teacher autonomy • Catering for individual learner differences • Benefits in the affective domain of learning • A balanced focus on the process and product of writing

17. Thank you