Eighth-GradeStudents’ Perceived Difficulties in Speaking English

This study aims to find out the types of students’ difficulties in speaking English and
the factors affecting those difficulties among eighth-grade students at SMP Negeri
27 Medan. This study applied a qualitative research design. The data used in this
study were the difficulties faced by students in speaking English and the factors
influencing these difficulties. The data source consisted of 30 students of class VIII
at SMP Negeri 27 Medan. The data were collected through questionnaires and
interviews and analyzed descriptively. The findings showed that students
experienced four types of speaking difficulties, namely inhibition, nothing to say,
low participation, and mother tongue use. Among these, inhibition was the most
dominant difficulty, as students often felt shy, anxious, and afraid of making
mistakes when speaking English. These conditions affected their confidence and
participation in class. In addition, many students had difficulty expressing their
ideas, which led to low participation and frequent use of their mother tongue during
English lessons. Furthermore, the study found that the students’ difficulties were
influenced by linguistic and non-linguistic factors. The linguistic factors included
limited vocabulary, lack of grammatical knowledge, and pronunciation problems.
Meanwhile, the non-linguistic factors consisted of psychological factors such as
anxiety, lack of confidence, and fear of criticism, as well as social factors related
to the learning environment at school and at home. These factors were
interconnected and significantly affected students’ speaking ability. This study is
expected to be useful for anyone who wants to learn about students’ difficulties in
speaking English. For future researcher, it would be beneficial to conduct in depthresearch
on aspect of speaking difficulties and the strategies for dealing with the
difficulties student face when speaking English.