NAVIGATING CHALLENGES IN AUTHENTIC SPEAKING ASSESSMENT: INSIGHTS FROM AN INDONESIAN EFL TEACHER IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Abstrak

Authentic speaking assessment is crucial for assessing students' communication skills; however, its implementation in Indonesian EFL classrooms remains underexplored. This qualitative study examines the challenges faced by Indonesian EFL teachers in conducting authentic speaking assessments and the strategies they use to address them. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with English teachers in purposefully selected elementary schools. The findings highlight several challenges, such as large class sizes, long learning times, limited student abilities, limited assessment tools, and difficulties in achieving assessment objectives. To address these challenges, teachers use strategies such as peer assessment, structured speaking tasks, simplified rubrics, and informal observation. The study highlights the need for institutionalization, teacher training, and broader training. These findings highlight several challenges, such as large class sizes, long learning times, limited student abilities, limited assessment tools, and difficulties in achieving assessment objectives. To address these challenges, teachers use strategies such as peer assessment, structured speaking tasks, simplified rubrics, and informal observations. This study highlights the need for greater institutionalization, teacher training, and increased assessment resources to improve authentic speaking assessment practices in Indonesian schools.