Reflections on Online EFL Assessment: Challenges and Solutions

Some higher education bodies still favor traditional assessment despite the advanced technology in the marketplace. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the gap between the contemporary marketplace, which heavily relies on ICT environments, and pedagogical practices. This research explores this particular gap by identifying the weakness and challenges in online assessment in order to form suggestions that can lead to reforming assessment in line with the 21st Century rubrics and skills as promoted by -Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). It adopts the GAP analysis, designed as follows: the ideal scenario of online assessment is presented, followed by the current situation of online assessment worldwide, and finally a discussion of both conditions to bridge the gap between the two scenarios. The paper concludes that the concept of assessment needs further changes to cope with the marketplace’s requirements and the 21st century digitalized environment.