Abstract
Several research studies have reported that assessment at higher education institutions for English language courses in Pakistan are deficient. However, they have not addressed the challenges causing these weaknesses. The current study, therefore, is an attempt to gain insight into the reasons of and the resulting consequences of these unsatisfactory assessment practices. The study employed qualitative approach to explore the challenges in the language assessment and the ensuing consequences. Thirty teachers were selected from public and private universities as the sample using purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews and examination papers. The findings reveal hat language teachers come across several challenges in assessment. There are various factors that lead to these challenges such as practicality, learners, test design, administrative obligations and teachers themselves. Although, the teachers employ several strategies to cope with the challenges, they have an adverse impact on language assessment practices in terms of selective skills and sub skills as well as limited choice of test tasks. Assessment has a strong impact on language teaching and learning and the challenges in assessment hamper the language teachers from designing useful assessment. Therefore, by addressing the potential barriers, language assessment practices can be reshaped in a way that they are conducive to language learning and teaching. The results also emphasize the need to enhance language teachers’ assessment literacy through training and professional development programs.