TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN EFL CLASSROOM

Abstrak

This study investigates English teachers’ perceptions and classroom implementation of authentic assessment at SMA Negeri 12 Medan. Although authentic assessment is widely recognized as essential for developing 21st-century competencies, such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy, its practical application in classrooms often remains inconsistent. Using a qualitative descriptive design and a case study approach, data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation from two English teachers who taught topics related to expository and argumentative texts. The findings show that both teachers possessed a strong conceptual understanding of authentic assessment, viewing it as performance-based tasks that reflect real-world communication. They valued authentic assessment for promoting students’ engagement, fluency, confidence, and higher-order thinking. In practice, both teachers implemented activities such as debates, presentations, project work, and multimodal tasks, which aligned with key principles of authenticity. However, gaps appeared in the assessment procedures, particularly in the limited use of rubrics, explicit criteria, and descriptive feedback. While the tasks were meaningful and relevant, the lack of structured scoring reduced the consistency and transparency of the evaluation. The study concludes that teachers’ beliefs align with theoretical principles, but their implementation requires further support to ensure systematic, criterion-referenced assessment. Strengthening teachers’ skills in rubric development, feedback practices, and assessment design is essential for maximizing the effectiveness of authentic assessment in EFL classrooms.