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A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, University of Regina. vii, 87 p. This thesis explores the experiences of four students in a Language Instruction for Newcomers Canada (LINC) program in a technical training institution in Canada. Specifically, this study focuses on their experiences of Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA), an approach which has been used nationwide in Canada. This relatively new assessment method has not yet been researched well enough to understand how students feel about this new approach to assessment and leaning. In light of these changes to the Canadian LINC program, this qualitative study explores students’ experiences with PBLA. The data for this study was collected from interviews with four immigrant students all enrolled at the same technical training institution in a LINC program. Multiple case study methodology was used to investigate the LINC student experiences with the PBLA approach. The data collection instrument was a one-on-one, face-to-face interview. Interview data was coded and analysed using a phenomenological reduction approach in order to understand "How students feel about PBLA?" The data from this study reveal that students experience frustration with PBLA and that the shift to this new assessment approach is still in progress. The data collected showed that the participants are unfamiliar with not only the term PBLA but also its content, framework, vocabulary, and main concepts. The following adjectives were used to describe the participants’ feelings towards PBLA: happy, positive, upset, frustrating, confusing, and disappointing. This finding illustrates the PBLA implementation is still a work in progress even after many years. With this study, I contribute to academic understanding of student perceptions of PBLA as assessment approach in LINC programs in Canada. Student yes |
