This study investigated the challenges and opportunities of formative assessment in EFL classes. It made use of qualitative research design by using indepth interviews to collect the required data. Three teachers and three students were involved as research participants in this study and they were intensively interviewed to get valid and reliable data regarding their understanding of formative assessment and the follow up actions they took after implementing formative assessment. The results of this study showed that the English teachers were found not to take appropriate follow up actions due to their low understanding of formative assessment. The teachers' understanding could influence their ability in deciding the actions. This study indicates that EFL teachers need urgent further intensive training on the appropriate implementation of formative assessment and how follow up actions should be integrated into classroom practices. Keywords: Formative Assessment, EFL, Classroom PracticesAbstrak: Penelitian ini mengkaji tantangan dan peluang penilaian formatif di kelas bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain penelitian kualitatif dengan mengunakan wawancara mendalam untuk mengumpulkan data yang dikehendaki. Tiga guru dan tiga siswa ikut serta menjadi partisipan penelitian ini dan mereka secara intensif diwawancarai untuk mendapat data yang valid dan reliabel mengenai pemahaman mereka terhadap penilaian formatif dan tindak lanjut yang dilakukan setelah penilaian formatif dilaksanakan. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa guru-guru bahasa Inggris tidak melakukan tindak lanjut yang tepat karena pemahaman mereka terhadap penilaian formatif yang rendah. Pemahaman guru-guru dapat memengaruhi kemampuan mereka dalam menentukan tindak lanjut. Penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa guru-guru bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing memerlukan pelatihan intensif lebih lanjut yang mendesak mengenai pelaksanaan penilaian formatif dan bagaimana tindak lanjut dari penilaian dintegrasikan ke dalam praktek di kelas.Kata Kunci: Penilaian Formatif, Bahasa Inggris sebagai Bahasa Asing, Praktik di Kelas Teaching and learning processes always consist of two main essential and inseparable activities, namely: teaching and assessment. The two cannot be separated since teaching is

ABSTRACT-The present study aims at investigating how Blog-Assisted Language Learning (BALL) can enhance EFL tertiary learners’ writing performance covering complexity, accuracy, and fluency through collaborative action research while at the same time it seeks to discover new knowledge that can inform the implementation of BALL in a writing class. This study employed Collaborative Classroom Action Research conducted in one cycle in one consecutive semester intended to make improvement in the teaching and learning of writing using BALL. There were 30 students of a university level majoring in English Education Department who joined Advanced Essay Writing Class in this study. The data were collected through interview, open-ended questionnaire followed by in-depth interview, and writing test. The findings showed that EFL learners improve their writing performance and they become more active in online class condition with two atmospheres: collaboration and competition among the learners. Keywords: BALL, EFL Learners, writing performance, action research.

This study examines how teachers teach English to prepare students for high-stakes English national examination in the Indonesian context. Data were collected from two high-achieving and three low-achieving schools with eleven teachers as the subjects of in-depth interviews and nonparticipatory classroom observations. The findings reveal that bi-directional washback was found in both groups of schools. The schools of low achievers were found to have more intensive negative washback than those of high achievers. The different intensity of negative washback is likely related to the teachers' perspective about their students' level of competence for passing the national examination and about the quality of their schools. The consistently unsatisfactory national examination scores of the low-achieving schools, despite their concerted efforts in the examination preparation program, suggest that the government should focus on supporting such schools with more empirically-based empowerment programs, which would become an indispensable follow-up actions regarding the implementation of the highstakes national examination.

The change of the status of the National Exam (NE) from high-stakes testing to low-stakes testing inspired the researchers to explore its effects on the teaching and learning of English. This qualitative exploratory study tried to investigate how English teachers taught their students to prepare NE at senior high schools in two different functions by involving six English teachers from three schools varying in the quality in terms of the schools’ demography, academic achievement, and facilities. The study was also strengthened by a set of secondary data from the results of the NE in 2015. The result of study involving the six teachers shows that the higher the quality of the schools the less they are affected by the change of the functions of the NE. The result of the analysis involving the secondary data shows that in spite of the change of its function, the NE tends to remain a high-stakes testing.Keywords: High-Stake Testing, Low-Stake Testing, National Exam, English UJIAN NASIONAL DI INDONESIA DAN IMPLIKASINYA TERHADAP PEMBELAJARAN BAHASA INGGRISAbstrakPerubahan fungsi Ujian Nasional (UN) dari “high-stakes testing” menjadi “low-stakes testing” mendorong penulis untuk melakukan penelitian eksploratif terhadap persamaan dan perbedaan UN dalam fungsinya yang berbeda dengan mengkaji dampaknya pada proses belajar-mengajar mata pelajaran Bahasa Inggris. Penulis mengkaji bagaimana para guru mengajar Bahasa Inggris dalam mempersiapkan para siswa menghadapi UN sebelum dan setelah ada perubahan kebijakan. Penelitian eksploratif ini dilaksanakan dengan mewawancarai enam guru bahasa Inggris dari tiga sekolah yang mutunya berbeda-beda. Wawancara terhadap para guru dilakukan menjelang pelaksanaan UN 2015. Penelitian ini dilengkapi dengan data sekunder berupa hasil UN 2015 yang memperkuat temuan penelitian. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa sekolah yang mutunya lebih rendah cenderung lebih banyak terpengaruh oleh perubahan status UN  daripada sekolah yang mutunya lebih tinggi dalam hal mempersiapkan para siswanya menghadapi UN. Hasil analisis data sekunder, rendahnya aspek kejujuran dalam UN, menunjukkan UN masih dianggap sebagai “high-stakes testing”.Kata kunci: tes beresiko tinggi, tes beresiko rendah, ujian nasional, bahasa inggris

This study explores the effect of working memory capacity (WMC) and content familiarity (CF) on EFL reading comprehension. Seventy senior students from a private university in Malang, Indonesia, were involved in the study, having been selected based on their English proficiency of at least pre-advanced level. These students were required to complete a reading span test for the WMC and a multiple-choice reading test based on CF. The findings of this study show that there is no interaction effect between WMC as the main independent variable and CF as the moderator variable; this implies that the students with higher WMC comprehend texts better than those with lower WMC, regardless of whether they are familiar or not with the texts.