Students perceptions of using portfolios as a means of evaluation in an english foreign language translation course

I am greatly indebted to all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2, especially the lecturers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages for their valuable dedication during my

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mrs Nguyen Thi Hong Nhat, M.A., my supervisor, for her thorough reading, critical comments and valuable suggestions as well as indispensable advice and encouragement

I am greatly indebted to all the lecturers at Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2, especially the lecturers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages for their valuable dedication during my years of university work

I also owe my special thanks to students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2, for their kind help and great contribution to my survey

I am really grateful to my close friends who helped me a lot collect useful documents for my research

Last but not least, particularly, I express my deep gratitude to my beloved family, for their hearted encouragement and support

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perceptions of benefits

of using portfolios as a means of evaluating their learning process in a translation course and find out the students’ difficulties when implementing their portfolio as well as ways to improve students’ self-learning portfolio The participants of the survey questionnaires are 44 third-year English-major students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2

As a result, most of students have positive attitudes and motivations towards the effects of using portfolios in their learning process; therefore teacher should apply portfolios in more foreign language classes

Based on the results of the survey, it is clear that portfolio has a great of benefits; however both teachers and students also face some challenges when implementing portfolios in evaluating students’ learning process Thus some limitations of the study as well as suggestions for further studies have been involved

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: Students’ Perceptions of Using Portfolios as a Means of Evaluation in an English Foreign Language Translation Course, a Case Study

at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi Pedagogical University N02”

(Graduation paper submitted in partial fulfillment of The Degree of Bachelor of Arts in English)

I certify that all the materials in this study has not been copied by me from any other person’s report without acknowledgment and this work is written by my best under instruction from my supervisor

Date submitted: May 2013

Student

Le Thi Tim

Supervisor

Nguyen Thi Hong Nhat, M.A

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART ONE INTRODUCTION I-Rationale 1

II-Research questions 3

III-Research objectives 3

IV-Research scope 3

V-Research tasks 3

VI-Research methods 4

VII-Significance of the proposed research 4

VIII-Design of the research 4

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1 Literature review in brief 6

I.2 Overview of evaluation 8

I.2.1 Definition of evaluation 8

I.2.2 Reasons for evaluating students 8

I.2.3 Principles of evaluating students 9

I.3 Overview of portfolios 12

I.3.1 Definition of portfolios 12

I.3.2 Types of portfolios 13

I.3.3 Components of portfolio 13

I.3.4 Stages of a portfolio evaluation 15

I.3.5 Benefits of using portfolios 17

I.4 Evaluating translation 19

I.4.1 Definition of translation 19

I.4.2 Approach to evaluate translation 20

I.4.2.1.The Product Approach 20

I.4.2.2.The Process Approach 21

I.4.2.3 Product Approach or Process Approach 21

I.4.3 Criteria for translation evaluation 22

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY II.1 Research setting 24

II.1.1 Overview of the course 24

II.1.2 Participants of the research 24

II.2 Data collection 25

II.2.1 Procedures for carrying out the research 25

II.2.2 Instruments for data collection 25

II.3 Data analysis 26

CHAPTER THREE RESULTS, MAJOR FINDINGS,AND RECOMMENDATIONS III.1.Results 27

III.1.1.Students’ perceptions of the benefits of using portfolios 27

III.1.2 Students’ difficulties in implementing the portfolios 31

III.1.3 Ways to improve students’ self-learning portfolio 32

III.2 Major Findings 33

III.3 Recommendations 34

PART THREE CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION 37

Summary of Findings 37

Limitations of the Study 38

Suggestions for Further Studies 38

REFERENCES 40

APPENDICES 44

SURVEYQUESTIONNAIRE 44