Capstone EFL Portfolio

Abstract

The capstone EFL portfolio manifests my beliefs, knowledge, and experience working with English language learners. At the end of the ELL program, I systematically collect my works and reflect upon my understanding obtained through theories and practices so as to inform and guide my further professional development. The portfolio includes three parts: 1) philosophy of teaching 2) professional knowledge 3) application to practice. In the first part, I analyzed the factors that influence second language acquisition concerning cognitive, social-cultural, and linguistic dimensions. In the paper, I linked my analysis to three major theories: Piaget’s (1952) schema theory, Vygotsky’s (1978) social cultural theory, and de Jong’s (2011) linguistic theory. Based on the analysis and theories, I stated my beliefs of being a good language teacher focusing on two aspects: students and communities, curriculum and program design. In the second part, I took advantage of eight artifacts (examples of my work) to shed light on my understanding of the eight TESOL standards. I specifically addressed my professional knowledge and experience by focusing on learners and learning, the learning environment, curriculum, and assessment. In the last part of the portfolio, I depicted my future class concerning learners, environment, curriculum, and assessment. Meanwhile, to address the question of applying theory to practice in a class in which traditional notions dominate, I formulated specific instructional plans targeting at issues related to the conflict between my beliefs and traditional notions. Additionally, based on the recognition of my lack of knowledge as a novice teacher, I reflected upon options and directions to guide my career development.