LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT LITERACY AND CHALLENGE IN ASSESSMENT ALIGNING PRACTICES AMONG SECONDARY ENGLISH TEACHERS IN INDONESIA

Abstract

This study investigated the challenges encountered by secondary English teachers in North Sumatra, Indonesia, when enacting Language Assessment Literacy (LAL) to align classroom assessment with intended learning objectives. While previous LAL research has examined teachers’ assessment knowledge and practices, further attention is needed to how assessment knowledge is enacted when teachers attempt to maintain alignment under actual classroom conditions. A qualitative descriptive design was employed to examine this process in secondary-school contexts. Data were collected from sixteen English teachers across sixteen secondary schools in North Sumatra through individual semi-structured interviews and non-participant classroom observations. Interview transcripts and observation notes were analysed thematically. The findings showed that teachers demonstrated different forms of assessment knowledge and formative practice, but the enactment of assessment alignment remained uneven. Key challenges involved differentiating assessment while maintaining construct validity, translating assessment concepts into classroom decisions, working within resource and time constraints, and making the relationship among learning objectives, assessment tasks, and assessment criteria explicit. Teachers also reported using assessment evidence to adjust subsequent instruction, although student engagement with feedback, self-assessment, and reflection was less consistently evident. These findings suggest that assessment alignment is a situated professional practice shaped by the interaction of assessment knowledge, professional judgment, learner needs, and contextual conditions. Strengthening teachers’ LAL therefore requires sustained, practice-oriented professional learning that supports teachers in designing aligned assessment, developing meaningful feedback, and using assessment evidence for instructional decision-making.