• Lt Dr.S. Nithya

  Author

Language assessments that use standardized formats typically take, at best, a problematically subjective and wildly inconsistent guess at how a learner has developed over time, do not provide timely feedback, and are issued within a peer-to-peer (P2P) assessment framework. The gaps this study analyses are intended to be filled by the development and evaluation of a digital portfolio framework secured by blockchain technology, and by enhancing legitimacy and reliability in P2P language assessment. The design and methods outline that digital portfolios are submitted and peer-assessed using a rubric, and that assessments are immutable on a permissioned blockchain, with smart contracts added to prevent tampering with assessment scores. The study consisted of 120 ESL learners, who were split into two groups: a control group that used traditional P2P assessment and an experimental group that used the outlined framework. The validity of the assessments from both groups was calculated and compared using Cronbach's alpha and Cohen's kappa. The blockchain group showed increased reliability and assessment consistency. This group registered a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89 and a Cohen kappa of 0.83 (up from 0.72 and 0.61). The experimental group showed a 27% decrease in variance and a 34% decrease in anomalous scores in comparison to the control group. The greatest impact of the study demonstrates the enhanced accountability, transparency, and trust that peer assessments can offer in digital language portfolios. The blockchain technology enhanced P2P language assessment systems.

• PDF