The Effectiveness of Using Electronic Portfolio for Groupwok in Teaching Speaking Skill to EFL Freshmen

The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of using E-portfolio for Groupwork in speaking classes for freshmen. During the 15-week course, students from an experimental class were asked to work in groups of 5 or 6 and carried out specific tasks. After having finished the tasks assigned, they uploaded their group work on E-portfolio (Padlet and Google document were used) and then received feedback from their teacher and peers. Meanwhile, those in the control class didn’t use E-portfolio for group work. A questionnaire was distributed in order to collect data about their attitude toward E-portfolio. A pre-test and a post-test were also conducted to measure the learners’ speaking ability. The findings show most of the students appreciated E-portfolio for groupwork because of its advantages. Besides, the test results show that the students in the experimental class achieved better results than those in the control class. Especially, students’communicative competence was enhanced better in the experimental class than in the control one. On the basis of the findings, some implications were also suggested for better results in applying E-portfolio in teaching speaking skill in the EFL context. Keywords: E-portfolio, groupwork, speaking ability