Speaking Skills Development in Indonesian Senior High School: A Mixed Methods Needs Analysis of Student Preferences, Challenges, and Teacher Support

Abstract : Despite widespread recognition of speaking proficiency as central to English language learning, senior high school students in Indonesia continue to exhibit significant difficulties in oral communication, and the specific preferences, challenges, and support needs driving these difficulties remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates two interrelated questions: (1) what types of learning activities do students prefer to enhance their speaking skills, and (2) what challenges do students encounter in learning English speaking skills, and what teacher support do they identify as most beneficial? A convergent mixed-methods design was employed, integrating quantitative data from a 25-item Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 15 students across five needs analysis dimensions Target Situation Analysis (TSA), Present Situation Analysis (PSA), Learning Needs (LN), Learners’ Wants (LW), and Learning Preferences (LP) with qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted with five purposively selected participants. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics; qualitative data underwent systematic thematic analysis following Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña’s (2020) interactive model. Findings revealed that students demonstrated Very High awareness of speaking importance (TSA M = 4.78) while simultaneously recognising significant deficiencies in current proficiency (PSA M = 3.83), particularly vocabulary limitations (M = 4.00) and difficulty expressing ideas fluently (M = 3.93). Students articulated strong learning needs (LN M = 4.41), prioritising frequent oral practice (M = 4.53), immediate constructive feedback (M = 4.40), and teacher modelling. Qualitative analysis identified six themes: linguistic challenges, affective barriers, peer influence, classroom contextual factors, out-of-class environmental factors, and desired teacher support. The consistent convergence of quantitative and qualitative strands strengthens the validity of the findings and generates evidence-based implications for speaking instruction design, teacher professional development, and curriculum policy in Indonesian EFL contexts.