Inhibiting Factors Affecting Students’ English Speaking Ability (A Case Study at PBI UIN Ar-Raniry)

This study investigated inhibiting factors that affect the students’ English speaking ability. The participants were the students undertaking English Speaking course at English Language Department of Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, Banda Aceh. This study employed qualitative and quantitative methods. Interview and questionnare were used to collect data. Questionnaires were distributed to 40 students in order to find out their reactions to the factors that negatively affect students’ speaking ability, whereas interview was for 4 teacher educators and 12 students in order to get more in depth data about their problems in speaking. The results show that the three higher percentage factors all the students feel to have impeded their speaking include English grammar (55.55%), English pronunciation (50%), and lack of vocabularies (41.66%), whereas other factors have lower percentage. This is similar to most common factors experienced by 12 selected students based on their lecturers’ recommendation. Additionally, based on interview of their lecturers, among the most common factors were students’ grammar mistakes, and lack of vocabulary. In conclusion, the findings mirror previous research findings, such as Amelia’s (2017) and Doan’s (2011).