K-12 Chinese Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Classroom Portfolio Assessment

Abstract

As an approach of assessment as learning, classroom portfolio assessment (CPA) has received much attention in the language assessment community. In this study, ten K-12 Chinese language teachers in U.S. schools were interviewed to examine their understandings, perceptions, and implementations of CPA. Overall, corroborating the findings of previous questionnaire studies on the assessment literacy of language teachers, the participants demonstrated rather limited knowledge of CPA (i.e., a knowledge gap). In addition, while the benefits of CPA were recognized by the participants, they showed little interest in implementing it in their classrooms (i.e., a gap between teacher thinking and classroom practice). These two gaps are discussed in light of the importance of a strong knowledge base for effective implementation of CPA and external factors that may affect teachers’ motivation, intention, or decision to implement CPA. It is recommended that language teachers be provided with systematic initial training and professional development in CPA; and that contextual constraints on the implementation of CPA be recognized and support be provided to teachers to promote their professional learning of language assessment.