Investigating EFL Students’ Strategies to Overcome Barriers in Improving Speaking Skills through English Club

This study aims at identifying the barriers experienced by EFL students that hinder their progress in speaking proficiency within an English Club and investigating the strategies these students employ to overcome the barriers. Utilizing a qualitative research design, this study employed interviews as the data collection instrument, involving five seventh-semester students from the English department of Ar-Raniry Islamic State University with a minimum one-year active participation in the English Club. The findings illuminate linguistic factors, encompassing vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical barriers; psychological factors, including lack of self-confidence, anxiety, peer judgment, and lack of motivation; and environmental barriers, specifically the lack of peer feedback and proficiency. As for strategies, it was found that the participant employs several strategies in coping with the aforementioned barriers such as expanding their knowledge, thorough preparation, maintaining calmness and relaxation, note-taking, engaging self-evaluation, and seeking support from peers. The study's results provide valuable insights for English Club’s members, language educators and policymakers, facilitating the creation of supportive language learning environments and targeted interventions to augment EFL students' speaking skills within English Club setting.