The Effects of Portfolio Keeping on Writing Anxiety of EFL Students

Year 2007, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 218 - 236, 01.10.2007

Hande Öztürk Sevdeğer Çeçen

Abstract

There has been a growing body of research which documents the importance of portfolios in foreign language teaching. The current study is an action research that investigates the effects of portfolio keeping on the writing anxiety of students. Two instructors working collaboratively aimed to overcome the writing anxiety of their students. They had a class of fifteen prospective teachers of English who were in their preparatory year in a foundation university, in Istanbul, Turkey. Data were gathered by means of the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) (Cheng, 2004), a background questionnaire and two reflective sessions. Findings of the study revealed that portfolio keeping is beneficial in terms of overcoming writing anxiety. The results also indicated that the experience with portfolios may affect the participants’ future teaching practices positively. Therefore; this study suggests that portfolio keeping deserves to be taken into consideration in the programme of Foreign Language Education Departments.

Keywords

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• Research Assistant Hande ÖZTÜRK Maltepe University
• Faculty of Education Istanbul, Turkey
• E-mail address: [e-mail]
• Second author: Research Assistant Sevdeğer ÇEÇEN Maltepe University
• Faculty of Education Istanbul, Turkey
• E-mail address: [e-mail]