STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT IN SPEAKING TEACHING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY AN INDONESIAN ENGLISH TEACHER

Abstract

In English language teaching, developing excellent speaking skills is essential, especially for students at the primary level. The study aims to investigate the strategies employed by English teachers in teaching speaking to students and the impacts of teaching strategies used in speaking skills on students' engagement viewed from the teacher's perspective. The study used qualitative research, explicitly adopting a case study methodology. The participant is an Indonesian English teacher in an English course. The data was gathered through observation, interview, and documentation. The study results showed that the teacher employed various teaching strategies to enhance English speaking skills in her classroom. The first strategy involved guessing games, where students guess vocabulary to recall previous lessons. The second strategy was the picture-describing strategy, where the teacher asked students to describe pictures orally. The third strategy was storytelling, where the teacher used a storybook to teach listening and speaking skills. English teachers' teaching strategies to enhance student engagement in speaking skills have been found to significantly impact their students' performance. High-achieving students who are confident in active communication engage more with speaking activities. Conversely, low-achieving students may struggle with these activities, requiring more scaffolding and step-by-step instruction. Teachers should maintain students' positive engagement by providing equitable opportunities for all students to improve their English. Additionally, positive affective and cognitive engagement rely on students' proficiency level and teachers' teaching strategies.