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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

a. Background of the problem Indonesia has changed the form of curriculum in several times because the target of graduated students who is wished to get the best competence and quality can not be reached, even though it is decreased every year. One of government efforts to solve this problem is to design a new curriculum to make perfect the previous design. In 2006, Indonesia government through National Education Department has socialized a new curriculum that named School Based Curriculum (SBC). This curriculum has not significant difference with Curriculum Based Competence (CBC), as the previous one. The difference is only looked at the subject that makes the design. Curriculum Based Competence was made by the government and operated in all of schools, other while School Based Curriculum is designed and conducted by the school based with the potency of students and location. There are several assessment models that recommended for teaching English as a Foreign Language based on SBC, such as performance based assessment, project based assessment, product based assessment, paper and pen based assessment, portfolio based assessment and attitude based assessment. In this paper, the writer tries to discuss more about the portfolio based assessment in teaching English as a foreign language, especially in writing skill. Muslich (2008: 118) defined portfolio as a collection of students result of learning. In other words, portfolio is a media for students to save their learning

experiences or learning process in certain period of time. Through this portfolio, the students and teacher will see the students progress or regress in learning activities. Portfolio and writing have a correlation because the both of them are about the progress activity. According to Oshima (1997:2) who said that writing is a progressive activity, it means writing is about playing with our mind or our imaginations then we pour to a piece of paper with a lot of words. To assess students writing skill, teacher does not only need to see the final product but also the process of writing its self. This assessment model is appropriate to build the students selfassessment and motivation to be better in the future. Furthermore, portfolio based assessment hopefully can be a good way for evaluating the students learning and fostering their motivation for developing their competences in writing skill of English as a foreign language class. b. Formulation of the problem Based on the explanation above, the writer formulates problem as follow: Does portfolio based assessment is effective in teaching writing in senior high school EFL class? c. Aims of the topic The writer decided to choose the portfolio as a model of assessment in teaching writing skill in EFL class of senior high school grade students that is appropriate to be conducted in school based curriculum, because she want to show a method of evaluation that has be used long time ago in several countries and success to monitor the progress of students in their learning achievement. Beside that, the information about this method should be delivered to all of the teachers in TEFL.
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CHAPTER II LITERARY REVIEW

a. Concept of KTSP

Based on Muslich (2008: 17), School Based Curriculum or KTSP is the operational curriculum that made and conducted by each unit of schools. In other words, KTSP is made by the school in order to concern with the weaknesses and strengthens or potential of its located. Actually, there is no significant difference between Curriculum Based Competence (CBC) in 2004 with KTSP. Both of them has same program that is oriented to the competences and final results of students from teaching learning activity, but KTSP is made and conducted by the school and it makes SBC different with CBC, because KTSP is made by the government. There are several principles in developing KTSP that mentioned by Muslich (2008: 18), they are: 1. Concern with the potency, development, needs, and students goal and their location; 2. Varieties and matched; 3. Respectful for the development of knowledge, technology and art;

4. Relevant with the needs of life; 5. Learning for along lifetime;

6. Balancing for local and national goals.


b. Concept of Portfolio Based Assessment

Based on Weigle (2002) that was quoted by Hyland (2007: 160) said Assessments have general purpose of helping teachers make inferences about language abilities and decision of various kinds based on these inferences. The teachers need to assess the students achievement in a certain skill to see the result of teaching learning program. According to ERIC Digest (2000) in Muslich (2007: 210), Portfolios are used in various professions together typical..; art students assemble a portfolio for an art class... So, portfolios are the collection of students results of learning. In teaching writing, Hyland (2007: 177) defined portfolios as multiple writing samples, written over time and purposefully selected to best represent a students abilities, progress, or much successful texts in particular context. Portfolio based assessment has been conducted in art education for the first time, but today, this learning model is used in many developed countries for teaching language skills. Hancock (1994) referred to portfolio assessment in Al-Serhani (2007: 13) as ongoing process involving the student and teacher in selecting samples of student work for inclusion in a collection, the main purpose of which is to show the student's progress. Based on the above definitions, portfolio assessment is operationally defined as the strategy of keeping a purposeful collection of tasks a student performs during the course of English over a period of time (one term).

Kemp and Toperoff (1998), in Al-Serhani thesis (2007: 33) mentioned five characteristics of portfolio assessment: A portfolio is a form of assessment that students collaboratively do with their teacher. A portfolio is a selection of student work, rather than a collection of all work samples. A student must be involved in selecting items to be included. A portfolio exhibits samples of the student work which show growth over time. It also enables students to reflect on their own work identifying the strengths and weaknesses in the work. The criteria for selecting and assessing the portfolio contents should be clear to the teacher and the students alike at the beginning of the program. The items in the portfolio can show growth in all language domains as well as it can focus on only one domain. Muslich (2008: 119) mentioned the purposes of portfolio for students, they are: For formative and diagnostic assessing of students As media to monitor the progress of students For giving the formal evidence in students evaluation

For monitoring the students works that focus on process and product To collect the final students work which focus on summative assessment

c. Procedure of Assessing In teaching writing based on KTSP, the teacher should not use the traditional approaches that assess students writing only as a final product, but the teacher must consider that writing as a progressive process. As Richard-Amato (2005: 283) said that children learn to write most effectively when they are encouraged to start with their own expressive language, that meaning is more important than form Further explanation is quoted by Richard-Amato (2005: 284) from several experts that Progressive theorists have argued for an understanding of writing through a focus on personal growth and process educators have a responsibility to intervene in the learning process. The procedure of portfolio based assessment in writing skill is likely collecting the students project in writing, but the students do not only collect the final draft but also they can put the first draft to their own portfolio. Each student has to own his/her portfolio to see the progress of his/her writing skill. Students portfolio will get the judgment or opinion from teacher and peer, even they will be taught to do a self-assessment. It is likely said by A.A. Istri N. Marhaeni (2006) that this assessment has three main elements such as (1) Students project samples (2) selfassessment and (3) the clarity and transparency of assessment criterions.

Alisa Rizka Puspita (2007: 34) said that in portfolio must be the truth of judgments by teacher and students while they are assessing the students task based on the criterions that have been decided together. It is because the portfolio does not have the certain standard in giving score so, the teacher and students should make a deal firstly. In portfolio based assessment, the teacher has to make a plan to meet her/his students one by one for discussing about students achievement in their portfolio. This activity is called portfolio conferences. Teachers Questions are asked about the collection and about the learning process. Moreover, exchange of thoughts takes place during these conferences while the student and teacher examine the portfolio contents in an attempt to assess student development as language user. Conference has purposes such as to review the contents of portfolios, monitor progress and obstacles that might stand in the way of learning. d. The Strengthens and Weaknesses of Portfolio Portfolio based assessment has several strengthens and weaknesses. Based on Barenson and Carter that was quoted by Alisa Rizca Puspita (2007: 32), here are four strengthens of portfolio based assessment: 1. It can be documentation for the development of students achievement in certain period of time; 2. To revise the certain elements which are still less; 3. To build students motivation and self-confidence in learning activities;
4. To motivate students in responsibility for learning.

Alisa Rizka Puspita (2007: 33) also quoted Surapranata dan Hatta (2004) statement about the weaknesses of portfolio based

assessment as follow: 1. Portfolio based assessment will spend more time than common assessment; 2. Portfolio is less of reliability than the test assessment that used score number; 3. Teachers tend to concern with the final product than the process; 4. Teacher tend to think that he/she knows everything and students are the object to be taught; 5. Many people are skeptic and more believe in the common test with scoring number; 6. Many teachers have not understand about this model; 7. There is no specific criteria for this model; 8. It is difficult to be conducted at the school because it is not familiar for them; 9. It can make the students stuck in the form and they are hard to be expressive; 10. Portfolio based assessment needs a large space or room to save the

students works.

CHAPTER III DISCUSSION

After the writer mention concept of portfolio based assessment, in this chapter she will discuss about the effectiveness of portfolio based assessment in teaching writing in senior high school English as a foreign language class through School Bases Curriculum or KTSP. KTSP is an operational curriculum that designed by concerning with potency of students and school location. Instead of the method of learning, the evaluation of learning process is also the important aspect that can improve students achievement. In process of assessing or evaluating students achievement, the teacher can use one of several methods that are innovative, up to date, and appropriate for him/her

class. The model of assessment should motivate students to increase their knowledge and improve their competence until the end of period of learning process. In teaching writing skill, the teacher needs an assessment model that not only can evaluate students skill through their final product of writing but also to see the progress of them day of the day. The teacher should ensure her students progress in writing started from how they pour the idea, spelling and content of the text firstly, until the students can write a piece of writing perfectly. Portfolio based assessment offers an innovative model of assessment for teacher in senior high school to value students writing skill by different method. Generally, it does not assess students task by common used test in final term anymore, but it does through whole activities of students along period of learning. Portfolio assessment is a mechanism for improving students' writing performance. Such strategy allows students to write daily, have a choice in what they write. In addition, they write in a variety of genres and for different audiences. Students can reflect such variety in the collections they collect to compile their portfolios. Students, at the end of a portfolio assessment program, are asked to select improved or best pieces of writing to include in their portfolio to submit assessment. Students also include writing samples that exhibit the stages in the writing process, including planning, drafting, revising, and editing. Such process develops students' planning, drafting, revising, and editing skills. And because of students' involvement in selecting pieces for their portfolio and reflecting on them, portfolio assessment respects students and their abilities.

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Several previous researches about portfolio based assessment have similarity in discussing about the effectiveness of this modes assessment, time consuming. Although this model is appropriate enough to be operated in senior high school of KTSP, but the main consideration to conduct this model is about time. It is because the teacher needs time and energy for portfolios' management: developing strategies and materials, conferencing with individual students or small groups, reviewing portfolios contents, commenting on students' work, and provide feedback. During the process of developing portfolios, EFL students must receive feedback from the teacher. In addition, most students must be guided through the process of developing portfolios as portfolios may be a new experience for them. Beside that, in portfolio is difficult to establish the validity and reliability of portfolio assessment, as a qualitative strategy, compared to the case with quantitative assessment tools. With the amount of assistance and guidance provided by teachers during the process of developing portfolios, there is an important issue need to be considered which is whether portfolios are an actually representative of students' performance. Finally, some instructional institutions and parents can often be skeptical about assessment instruments other than traditional testing as they may lack an understanding of portfolio use and interpretation. So, the writer can conclude that based on several researches before, portfolio is still difficult to be conducted in the school that has limited facilities and for the teacher who does not have full dedication in teaching the students. Whereas the writer also can take an important point that this model will not be difficult if the teachers would conduct this model of assessment step by step, instead
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of they also give the explanation to students parents about it, because the writer thinks that this model will not be easy conducted in the senior high school if there is no one who socializes and wants to be the pioneer to use this model.

CHAPTER IV CONCLUSION

Based on the discussion above, the writer can conclude several points about the effectiveness of portfolio based assessment in teaching writing through KTSP, they are: 1. Portfolio based assessment is one of assessment models that recommended in KTSP; 2. Portfolio based assessment is innovative assessment model which can monitors the progress of students achievement, in this case: writing achievement;

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3. Portfolio based assessment can motivate students to do self-assessment or

reflection how well they are in teaching learning process; 4. Time consuming is one of problems for teachers to conduct portfolio based assessment in their EFL class, instead of skeptical of people about the reliability of assessment; 5. Portfolio based assessment is not effective enough to be conducted in senior high schools where have the limited of facilities and dedicated teachers.

REFERENCES

Al-Serhani, Wafa F. 2007. The Effect of Portfolio Assessment on the Writing Performance of EFL Secondary School Students in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia: College of Education for Girls Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah. Hyland, Ken. 2007. Genre and Second Language Writing. USA: University of Michigan Press. Marhaeni, A.A. Istri N. 2006. Asesmen Portofolio Dalam Pembelajaran Berbasis Kompetensi. Denpasar: Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha Singaraja.

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Muslich, Masnur. 2008. KTSP, Pembelajaran Berbasis Kompetensi dan Kontekstual. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara. Oshima, Alice dkk. 1997. Introduction to Academic Writing 2nd edition. New York: Longman. Puspita, Alisa R. 2007. Peningkatan Prestasi Belajar IPS Sejarah Melalui Model Pembelajaran Berbasis Portofolio Pada Siswa Kelas VIII SMP Negeri 1 Doro Kabupaten Pekalongan Tahun Pelajaran 2006/2007. Semarang: Universitas Negeri Semarang. Richard-Amato, Particia A. 2005. Academic Success for English Language Learners. New York: Longman.

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