Navigating the Verbal Odyssey: Unraveling the Trials of English Speaking Proficiency of Students

Abstract

Speaking is one of the most important and challenging skills to master when learning English as a foreign language (EFL). However, the students in Indonesia who study English have yet to attain the required language proficiency; most students continue to have issues with their ability to speak accurately, fluently, and comprehensibly. The research purpose of this study is to know the difficulties and the factor that affecting the difficulties in speaking English. The researcher applied mixed method research design. The number of population as many as 121 students of eighth-grade students of SMP Negeri 15 Palu that consist of 4 classes. In taking the sample, the researcher uses a purposive sampling technique. The number of samples is 27 students or 22% of the population. The researcher uses a questionnaire and interview as an instrument for data collection. After analyzing the data, the results showed that the eight-grade students’ of SMP Negeri 15 Palu experienced some difficulties when speaking English. The aspect they experienced most was affective difficulties with a total 42% of response while the least was instructional difficulties with a total 8% of response. The findings also revealed some factors that affected students speaking ability such as they feel anxious, shy, lack of vocabulary, and lastly there is no supportive school environment.