Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Media Technology

First Advisor

Susan Powers

Second Advisor

Susan Kiger

Third Advisor

Leslie Barratt

Abstract

Web-based portfolios serve as authentic assessment in the foreign language curriculum when organized around the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning. Portfolios align curriculum and assessment with the standards, ensuring that student learning and progress follow these standards. Web-based portfolios enhance student learning by integrating the learning of culture with the learning of the target language. In web-based language portfolios, students create individual web pages for each of the standards. These standards were developed as guidelines for the teaching of foreign language and culture in the United States. Questions for this study included whether students perceived that web-based language portfolios improved learning of the target language and target language culture as well as asking what the problems were that are associated with the implementation of a web-based portfolio project. The results showed that while students showed increased language skills as well as cultural understanding, they did not always attribute these skills to the portfolio process itself. Problems associated with the project were student lack of understanding of using the technology as well as a need for better articulation between the course objectives and the portfolio assignments.

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