Jovanda Febrianesty Ganiet. S892002011. 2023 TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES TO INCREASE STUDENTS’ SELF-CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING: LESSONS LEARNED FROM INDONESIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, A Master’s Degree Thesis. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Joko Nurkamto, M.Pd., Co-Supervisor: Dr. Sumardi, M.Hum. Surakarta. Magister of English Education Department, Sebelas Maret University.

Due to the sudden transition to online learning and the limitation of current online media capabilities, learning foreign speaking skills is more challenging. Furthermore, students tended to feel isolated, anxious, and uncomfortable performing during the online learning process, resulting in a lack of self-confidence and ultimately increased students’ foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA). The aim of this study was to explore teachers’ various strategies to overcome students’ speaking anxiety in order to encourage their self-confidence during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This research used a qualitative research method throughout the narrative inquiry. The participants of this study consisted of three English teachers. Since this research use triangulation data sourced, there are five students’ experience was included to support the results. They were interviewed using semi-structured questions. The transcribe of the results was analyzed using critical discourse analysis (CDA) and it was grounded by an interpretivism paradigm where the participants' experiences were used as valid data.
Findings revealed that the activities used during virtual meetings consisted of video recordings, online discussions, online presentations, and individual examinations. Then, the strategies found were enhancing students’ positive emotions, enlightening students’ social skills through interactive learning activities, and elaborating varied speaking activities to engage students’ willingness to communicate. It was found that English-speaking teaching strategies have met the newest challenge during the past pandemic era. For future research, a follow-up investigation is needed to estimate the significance of affective filters and self-confidence in communication behavior compared to other aspects such as personality and motivation.