Role of portfolio technique in young learners' writing skills and their attitudes towards portfolio

In this study we implemented portfolio technique to see the role of this technique on the development of young learners' second language writing skills and to discovered students' attitudes towards portfolio. In this respect, this study aimed to search the improvements of the writing skill of the fifth grade students in a private school by using portfolio technique in Process Approach. The study also attempted to explore students' attitudes of the change they underwent as a result of the implementation. The study was conducted on 26 participants from 5th grade students studying in a private primary school in the academic year of 2013-2014. Data were obtained from a set of attitude questionnaire, portfolio questionnaires (section A and B) and teacher's field notes. The data obtained in this study were both quantitative and qualitative in nature. In this study qualitative data was obtained through the open-ended questions in the attitude questionnaire, portfolio questionnaire, section B, and field notes. By the help of field notes, the researcher was able to express her ideas about the students clearly on the paper. The quantitative data was primarily obtained through portfolio questionnaire, section A because the students marked the strength of their agreement of the usefulness of the items on a 5-point scale. In order to achieve the aim of the study, the students' beliefs about writing in L2 were elicited at the beginning of the implementation and at the end of the implementation. To see the role of portfolio technique we applied autonomy enhancing activities and through the data collection tools we made a tremendous effort in order to focus on the improvement in students' writing skills and their attitudes towards portfolio. The results of this study aimed to reveal that portfolio technique in process approach helps students to develop their writing skill in a foreign language. Furthermore, the findings of the study may have important implications for the use of portfolio to enhance writing skill in L2 and develop students' attitudes towards portfolio technique in middle school. Key Words: Portfolio Technique, Metacognitive Skills, Learner Autonomy, Writing Ability In Foreign Language