Investigating The Teacher’s Strategies in Teaching Speaking to the Eleventh Grade Students of SMAN 1 Kupang

Speaking is one of the most important skills in English language learning because it enables students to communicate ideas, thoughts, and feelings effectively. However, many senior high school students still face difficulties in speaking English, such as limited vocabulary, low confidence, fear of making mistakes, and low participation. These problems are often related to the teaching strategies used by teachers in the classroom. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the strategies used by English teachers in teaching speaking to the eleventh-grade students of SMAN 1 Kupang, to describe how the strategies were implemented, and to identify the challenges faced by teachers along with their solutions. This study employed a qualitative descriptive design. The subjects of the study were two English teachers of the eleventh grade at SMAN 1 Kupang. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and documentation analysis of lesson plans (RPP). Each teacher was observed once, resulting in two classroom observations in total. The data were analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana (2014) model, including data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings revealed that the teachers applied various communicative and student-centered strategies, such as role play, group discussion, dialogue practice, storytelling, oral presentations, and information gap activities. These strategies encouraged students to participate actively and practice speaking in meaningful contexts. However, teachers faced challenges such as students’ limited vocabulary, low confidence, passive participation, and limited instructional time. To overcome these challenges, teachers provided motivation, guidance, pair and group work activities, and adapted their strategies to classroom conditions. In conclusion, communicative and student-centered strategies are effective in improving students’ speaking participation and confidence. The study suggests that English teachers should continue to use varied interactive strategies and provide supportive learning environments to enhance students’ speaking skills.