THE USE OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION IN AN ONLINE LEARNING OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

Abstract

This study obtained to determine the use of authentic assessment in improving students' reading comprehension in online learning for English literature courses. Authentic assessment is an assessment that assesses a student's ability to performed something; It was obtained to see the real state of students in the learning process not only based on their last evaluation. Reading comprehension is a mental process in which the reader tried to understand the meaning of the text by interpreting what has been read to found the ideas given by the author. English literature is an element of the language contained in English, based on its outline, literature means a beautiful or well-organized language, and an attractive presentation style so that it captivates the hearts of the readers. This study used a qualitative approach. A case study was applied as the research design. The research data were online class observations (non-participant observations) and interviews (semistructured). The data analysis of this research is to copy the data, organize, and conclude. The participants in this study were selected purposively and are lecturers of English education at a university in West Java. The results of class observations showed that lecturers used authentic assessment in online learning for English Literature courses, lecturers use text-based teaching methods and also some references from journals, lecturers used learning media through WhatsApp groups and also use Zoom Meetings and showed that the use of authentic assessment can improve students' reading comprehension through evidence of responses to written literary works as a form of presentation task that has been done by students, the authentic assessment also provided benefits for lecturers and students. Based on the results of the interview, it was concluded that the lecturer used several steps in implementing the use of authentic assessment to improve students' reading comprehension in online learning for English literature courses. This study concludes that the use of authentic assessment can improve students' reading comprehension in online learning for English literature courses. For further researchers, it is expected that they can dig deeper into the effectiveness of using authentic assessment in improving students' reading comprehension in online learning for English literature courses.