Investigating Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)-based Literacy Assessment Implemented by An EFL Teacher at A Junior High School in Indonesia

Abstract

The program of freedom to learn (Merdeka Belajar) attempts to shape students to think critically and be aware of the contexts of the materials they are learning. It will be later assessed through the Minimum Competency Assessment (Asesmen Kompetensi Minimum) by focusing on their literacy and numeracy skills. However, the majority of Indonesian EFL teachers seemed not to have a comprehensive understanding yet of the primary concepts involved in implementing this program. Therefore, this study investigated the higher-order thinking skills (HOTS)-literacy assessment implemented by an EFL teacher at a junior high school in Indonesia. A case study was employed involving one English teacher from a school in West Java province, Indonesia. To collect data, three instruments were used, namely classroom observation, interview with the teacher, and document analysis. The findings of this study revealed that the teacher applied two types of assessments, namely formative and summative assessments. Formative assessment was done through vocabulary building, pronouncing words, and meaning-making, while the summative assessment was administered by contextualizing the materials and test items, giving open-ended questions, and using picture series to make a storyline. In addition, literacy skill was promoted in the levels of performative and functional. Performative was constructed to allow the students to read the written text as it is, while functional levels could give the students the opportunity to get the message behind the text. As a recommendation, these types of assessment could train the teacher to be ready in facing the Minimum Competency Assessment (AKM).

The importance of phonological awareness as a natural approach in children’s reading process from Manuela Cañizares School

“…Readers must comprehend the study's historical and spatial context to appreciate the research's importance fully. Significantly, educators frequently encounter difficulties in the earliest stages of teaching English reading to young learners, resulting in obstacles related to pronunciation and understanding (Setyarini et al, 2021;Amri et al, 2021). The incongruity between the phonetic representations and orthographic symbols of English letters is a substantial obstacle for individuals acquiring the language.…”