Facilitating Meaningful Learning Through E-Portfolio Implementation in EFL Speaking Class

Abstract

Meaningful learning in speaking courses remained a challenge in many EFL classrooms, where speaking activities are often conducted as task-oriented practices focusing on performance completion rather than students’ understanding of the learning process. This study aimed to explore how the implementation of an e-portfolio facilitates meaningful learning in a speaking course of second-semester EFL students. This study employed a qualitative approach with a phenomenological research design involving ten students from the English Education Department at Ganesha University of Education who participated in an e-portfolio-based speaking course. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis of students’ speaking videos and self-reflection sheets, and the researcher’s notes. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that meaningful learning was constructed through three interconnected dimensions: personal relevance of speaking tasks, real-life communication orientation, and constructing meaning through peer feedback. The iterative process of recording speaking performances, receiving feedback, and writing self-reflection enabled students to relate learning tasks to personal experiences and apply feedback across subsequent performances. These processes supported students in perceiving speaking activities as relevant to real-life communication contexts beyond classroom requirements. The study highlighted the pedagogical value of e-portfolios in promoting meaningful learning experiences in speaking instruction by encouraging reflective engagement and feedback-based improvement in EFL contexts. Pedagogical implications suggest that e-portfolios can support more meaningful and student-centered speaking instruction by integrating iterative tasks, peer feedback, and self-reflection. This approach helps students connect learning with real-life communication and promotes continuous, process-oriented development in EFL contexts.