Impact of strategy-based instruction via webfolio assessment on IELTS general reading of EFL learners

Abstract

This study employed a webfolio assessment system to investigate how the use of blogs within a portfolio framework in Iranian EFL reading classes which implemented Strategy-Based Instruction affects reading comprehension. For the purpose of this study, 45 advance male learners were divided into three groups. Two IELTS general reading tasks adopted from Cambridge IELTS 10 were administered as pre-test and post-test phases of the study to the experimental groups in order to find the difference in the reading comprehension of the learners prior to the treatment and then at the outset of the study. The pre- and post-tests were administered along with a Skill-Based Strategy Inventory adopted from Oxford (2001) to find the differences in using strategies before and after the treatment. Analysing the performance of three groups showed that utilising the webfolio assessment system (M = 24.30) had a significant effect on the reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners in comparison with the paper-based portfolio assessing system (M = 21.96).

Keywords: Computer-mediated communication, cooperative/collaborative learning, evaluation methodologies, evaluation of CALL systems, teaching/learning strategies.