Developing Communicative Self-Efficacy in University Students Through Eportfolio-Integrated Task-Based Language Teaching
Keywords:
communicative self-efficacy, ePortfolio, task-based language teaching, TBLT, self-determination theory, willingness to communicate, peer feedback, action research, portfolio assessment, communicative competence, higher education, self-directed learningAbstract
Despite decades of communicative language teaching reform, university students continue to experience a persistent gap between receptive linguistic knowledge and productive communicative confidence. This study investigates whether an ePortfolio-integrated Task-Based Language Teaching framework can systematically develop the communicative self-efficacy component of university students' broader communicative competence. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, Portfolio Assessment Theory, and the TBLT framework, the study employs a participatory action research design across three iterative cycles conducted over two academic semesters with 96 undergraduate students at a Central Asian university. Data were gathered through speaking self-efficacy surveys administered at five time-points, ePortfolio artefact analysis, structured peer feedback logs, audio-recorded task performances, and semi-structured focus group interviews. Results reveal that the eP-TBLT framework produced statistically significant and sustained self-efficacy growth across all five measurements, with the steepest gains occurring not during task performance itself but during structured peer feedback and ePortfolio reflection phases. Consistent with portfolio-based research demonstrating that deliberate self-directed compilation of evidence empowers students to take accountability for their own learning and development, students who engaged most deeply with the ePortfolio reflection component showed self-efficacy gains 2.3 times larger than those with minimal engagement. Three mechanisms drove growth: evidence accumulation, seeing documented proof of one's own communicative development, feedback internalisation, converting external peer commentary into internal performance standards, and task transfer. The study contributes an empirically tested, actionable pedagogical model for developing communicative self-efficacy as a structurally distinct and assessable component of university communication education.
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