promoting efl learners’ academic motivation and reading comprehension via portfolio development of concept maps

portfolios as a means of constructivist learning appear to show great promise in enhancing diverse dimensions of learning and promoting learner motivation. this study is an investigation into the effectiveness of portfolio development on the reading comprehension and academic motivation of undergraduate students majoring in english literature in iran. in order to answer the research questions, a quasi-experimental design in the form of a pretest (treatment) posttest control group was utilized in this study. participants included two classes of reading comprehension at tehran’s alzahra university. learners in the experimental group were required to develop a portfolio containing 10 self-generated concept maps based on the content of the readings as their artifacts. the instruction in the control group was conducted in the traditional teacher-directed manner. two toefl tests and an academic motivation questionnaire were administered to both groups. results of the statistical analysis proved that students benefited the portfolio development in the form of concept map generation both in their reading comprehension and their motivation levels.