Developing Personalized Portfolio Rubrics for the EFL Classroom
Steve Quasha
Discouraged by the old paradox of using written tests to examine verbal competence, Steve Quasha has developed a system of personalized portfolio rubrics designed to tap into students' intrinsic motivation via creativity and critical thinking which require them to identify strengths and weaknesses to most effectively take charge of their own learning. One example of the many rubrics he showed us was, "List 15 useful expressions, phrases or idioms you learned from this class." Peer assessment is part of this dynamic, a significant shift in motivation from writing only for the teacher. It also adds continuity to the process, surely satisfying to teachers frustrated with seeing students' interest rarely extend beyond the grade on a carefully corrected paper.
Quasha distributed examples of student "process" portfolios connecting new language learning with daily activities via imaginative tasks requiring investigation and reflection—changed often to avoid student recycling of answers and also because different classes have separate objectives. Peer feedback is encouraged-- in both English and Japanese-- and helps lead to final assessment portfolios, no small tangible and treasured end-product of an EFL course.
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