The Impact of ChatGPT on Language Assessment in ELT

This descriptive study scrutinizes the impact of ChatGPT on English Language Teaching (ELT) assessment and examines the extent to which it presents both opportunities and threats. A systematic review including 963 academic publications published between December 2023 and December 2024 was carried out so as to see the opportunities and threats. Out of 963 publications, the most relevant 150 articles were filtered to address the use of ChatGPT in online language assessment in ELT. Document analysis and thematic coding were utilized and 12 recurring themes were identified, including six classified opportunities and six threats. The findings reveal that six opportunities identified by ChatGPT were of automated grading, personalized feedback, practice partner simulation in speaking and writing, assessment item generation, engagement and motivation and multimodal & inclusive assessment, and six threats were academic dishonesty, validity & reliability concerns, algorithmic bias, overdependence & de-skilling, data privacy & institutional gaps, and adaptability. This study determines that ChatGPT's utilization in ELT assessment is dual-promising and problematic. The findings suggest this duality could be solved by pedagogical guidelines, interdisciplinary collaboration, curriculum calibration and ethical frameworks to harness its potential while safeguarding educational integrity.