Portfolio use for raising confidence and combatting level differences in english for specific purposes courses

Abstract

English for Specific Purposes instructors are often called upon to teach classes made up of students with vastly levels of English, creating significant knowledge gaps in the classroom as well as motivation problems. In this study, ESP students taking tourism and hospitality classes in Extremadura followed a portfolio evaluation system to narrow these differences and ease language learning anxiety shown at the beginning of the course. This evaluation system allowed students’ strengths and weaknesses to be integrated into the global framework of task-based learning. The students were able to successfully complete the tasks both at the individual and group level and reported feeling satisfied with the results.