Comparison of Traditional and Portfolio Assessment Efficiency in English Language Teaching in High Schools

Abstract

The article reviews traditional (oral/written, testing) and contemporary (authentic, performance, including portfolio) assessment. Definitionsare given. A quantitative research (experiment held with 43 11th graders at Private Demirel College (Tbilisi, Georgia)in the academicyear 2011/2012) is presented. The goal of the research was to test our hypothesis – thatthe application of portfolio assessment canreally have a positive impact on teaching English (the level of students’ skills). Though the study has its limitations, the conclusions madeare: though traditional and portfolio assessment both have advantages and disadvantages, application of portfolio is more advantageous.The experiment has shown that the level of EFL skills increased faster in both experimental groups than in the control group, whichproves portfolio’s higher efficiency.