* Corresponding author IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021, 127-146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Available online at IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education) Website: http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IN EFL SPEAKING CLASS: STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES Safrul Muluk*, Nasriyanti, Habiburrahim, Teuku Zulfikar, Saiful Akmal, Muhammad Safwan Safrul Received: 22nd March 2021; Revised: 26th May 2021; Accepted: 29th June 2021 ABSTRACT This research was designed to investigate the strategies used and challenges faced by lecturers in managing EFL speaking classes. The researchers used both classroom observation and semi- structured interviews in collecting the data. The participants of this research were three EFL lecturers teaching English Speaking classes at the English Department of Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. These lecturers were selected purposively; all of them were those assigned to teach the speaking class. Insights of the lecturers on their experiences in managing speaking classes were investigated to examine strategies and challenges they faced. The findings suggest that the lecturers utilized several strategies such as setting the classroom, determining seating arrangements, fostering discipline, applying certain speaking activities, and providing interesting topics to discuss. The data also indicated that the lecturers faced challenges in managing their teaching. Issues such as lack of equipment or teaching media to support speaking activities, students’ lacked self-confidence, and lack of vocabulary were among the challenges faced by the lecturers. Key Words: Classroom management; EFL classroom; speaking class ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan mendapat informasi tentang strategi dan tantangan yang dihadapi dosen di dalam mengelola kelas. Metode pengumpulan data yang digunakan adalah observasi dan wawancara semi- terstruktur. Sumber data atau partisipan dalam penelitian ini adalah 3 dosen yang mengajar kelas Speaking di Prodi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, UIN Ar-Raniry Banda Aceh. Para partisipan itu direkrut mengunakan teknik purposive sampling, dimana partisipan yang terlibat adalah yang sudah mengajar speaking selama beberapa semester. Hasil obssrevasi dan wawancara diperoleh informasi bahwa terdapat beberapa strategi dosen di dalam mengelola kelas, diantaranya: menyusun tempat duduk sedimikian rupa, menegakkan disiplin, mengunakan berbagai teknik pembelajaran speaking, dan memberikan topik yang menarik untuk didiskusikan. Penelitian ini juga memperoleh beberapa temuan yang berhubungan dengan tantangan dosen, diantaranya, tidak mencukupi fasilitas yang memadai yang dapat mendukung aktivitas pembelajaran speaking, kurangnya rasa percaya diri dari mahasiswa itu sendiri, dan tidak memadainya kosa kata yang dikuasai mahasiswa juga merupakan tantangan tersendiri dalam pengelolaan kelas speaking. Kata Kunci: Pengelolaan Kelas; Pembelajaran EFL; Kelas Speaking How to Cite: Muluk, S., Nasriyanti., Habiburrahim., Zulfikar, T., Akmal, S., Safrul, M.S. (2021). Classroom Management in EFL Speaking Class: Strategies and Challenges. IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8(1), 127-146. doi:10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 128-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license INTRODUCTION Classroom management is an essential element that often determines the success of the teaching-learning process (Cruickshank, Jenkins, and Metcalf, 2006). This is so since the classroom is one of the main sites of the instructional process. Classroom management can be defined as the environment in which the teaching- learning process occurs, with certain requirements needed to create an engaging classroom environment. Evertson and Weinstein (2006) reiterated that classroom management is The actions teachers create an environment that supports and facilitates both academic and social–emotional learning … It not only seeks to establish and sustain an orderly environment so students can engage in meaningful academic learning, it also aims to enhance students’ social and moral growth (p. 4). Cruickshank et al. (2006) argued that planning classroom management strategies require considerations of the classroom environment that one wants and necessary guidelines and procedures to create a functioning and engaging learning environment. Good educators must be aware of their teaching and/or leadership skills. This is because what they do in the classroom is tremendously influential on their students’ well-being (Nakamura, 2000). This is why effective classroom management is much more than connecting positively with students or designing great lessons and triggering engaging and challenging learning experiences for students. Good classroom management will improve students' learning experiences, which will result in positive influences on the achievement of learning objectives. The classroom's physical environment directly impacts the health, safety, comfort, and motivations of both students and lecturers. Lecturers also have the responsibility to organize and manage the classroom space to create a comfortable and interesting learning environment. The effectiveness of classroom management with appropriate teaching strategies is one of the concepts that can improve students' learning motivation (Sieberer- Nagler, 2016). Owing to this fact, this study was aimed at investigating the influence of classroom management strategies used by the lecturers in managing the EFL speaking class and explore difficulties they faced in managing a speaking class. Education experts have come up with several definitions of classroom http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 129-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license management. Evertson and Weinstein suggested that “classroom management involves teacher actions and instructional techniques to create a learning environment that facilitates and supports active engagement in both academic and social and emotional learning” (2006, p. 20). Sternberg and Williams (2002) defined classroom management as a set of techniques and skills a lecturer must have to contrive classroom management effectively. Motivation, discipline, and respect are issues that are closely related to classroom management. As such, classroom management refers to positive behaviors and decisions necessary to create and maintain an orderly and positive learning environment. It involves planning and preparing materials, classroom decoration, classroom guidelines, and establishing and enforcing routines and rules. It is lecturers’ strategies to create and maintain an engaging and positive learning environment and discipline and teachers’ responses to students' misbehavior (Tan, Parson, Hinson, & Sardo-Brown, 2003). When managing the classes, each lecturer must be aware of developing a positive classroom situation that can establish students to gain the learning goal. Varank (2013) asserted that teachers should consider some aspects, namely arrangement of the physical environment, program activities, and behavior management. Garrett (2014) described classroom management as all the actions teachers take to create and maintain an environment conducive to learning, a process consisting of five keys areas as follow: (1) Physical design of the classroom, (2) Rules and routine, (3) relationship, (4) engagement and motivation, and (5) discipline. The classroom's physical design relates to how the classroom is laid out (seat arrangement), where classroom resources and supplies are located, how the classroom layout is set up, etc. Arrangement of the physical classroom environment means seating arrangement, lighting, temperature, cleanliness, material instruction, disturbance, etc. (Varank, 2013). In speaking context, it means ensuring that students can see well without any disturbance, and the lighting of the classroom should be adequate as not to interfere with students in gaining the materials (Pedota, 2007). The seating arrangement is one of the classroom management aspects that teachers should pay attention to. When they plan about classroom management, they should think about their goals and experiment with the class. However, there is no single arrangement that suits and works for all learning situations. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 130-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Concerning the relationships between lecturers and students, lecturers must encourage and develop compassionate and supportive relationships with students to feel safe and protected in the classroom. Teachers must also be able to connect with students’ parents and promote supportive relations among students. Teachers must create a classroom where all students feel comfortable, where both students and teachers feel safe to do learning activities. Concerning engagement and motivation, effective classroom managers must create an engaging environment where all class members contribute to the teaching-learning process. Teachers can create this engagement by setting up instructions that engage and motivate learners to participate in class activities. A teacher must know how to create a good and effective classroom environment for his/her students. Teachers need to include two specific areas of cognitive space; setting expectations and creating a motivational learning situation. The final vital issue to consider is discipline, which relates to how teachers prevent and respond to students’ misbehavior. It revolves around making students understand the consequences of misconduct or misbehavior. It not only means punishment but also includes teachers’ actions that prevent misbehavior (Garrett, 2014). Classroom management includes all important aspects that are very influential in creating an ideal classroom atmosphere. These include seating and grouping arrangement, setting up activities (teacher’s and student’s activities), teacher's control over students in the classroom, maintaining discipline and motivation, dealing with problems, student's respect to the teacher and the class members (colleague), time setting, proper start and end of the lesson, giving instruction and monitoring students’ activities, and using proper tools and techniques in teaching. All those aspects are essential in speaking class. A teacher must make students interested and involved during the lesson taking place in the class; otherwise, it is challenging for a teacher to teach and get students’ attention to the class activities. Classroom management is aimed at flourishing the teaching and learning process from which lecturers and students benefit. In well-managed classrooms, teachers could work easily, lessons will run smoothly, and students will likely understand and grasp the materials more effectively. In a well- organized classroom, students are http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 131-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license encouraged and expected to be able to utilize classroom resources effectively. This is one area of teaching objectives focusing on students’ skills to use learning materials and learning centers to improve their learning experiences. To be able to cooperate with peers is also one of the expected academic behaviors. In this case, teachers must create a learning community where all class members participate and contribute actively informing their environment. Students know what is expected of them and learn to work effectively as an individual and with peers. All action taken by the teacher should be focused on minimizing disruptions and fostering an environment where the students can learn. Classroom management goals can be many, but here are the two common classroom management goals: creating a positive and productive learning environment. This goal means to maintain students' interest, motivation, and involvement. So, the focus is on activities that create a positive, productive, and facilitative learning environment. This goal is not meant for absolute control by the teacher. Instead, effective classroom management maintains students' interest, student involvement, and also student motivation. The focus is on activities that create a positive, productive, and facilitative learning environment. The second goal is to support and foster a safe classroom community. It means the students are allowed to communicate and connect with their peers during the teaching-learning process. A safe classroom environment allows students to express and discuss their ideas without fear of being ridiculed for their misconceptions. To realize this, rules and routines must be put in place to provide members of the classroom the platform needed to interact with each other. The rules and routines must be clear, specific, and fair to all classroom members. Each rule and routine must be clear to avoid misunderstanding on the part of the students. Written descriptions of expected conduct and prohibited behavior must be made available and accessible to members of the classroom. To better achieve this objective, educators need sound classroom organization and behavior management skills to achieve this objective better. It adopts strategies that produce and improve meaningful interactions, which result in more successful classroom environments for both teachers and students (Oliver & Reschly, 2010). On this note, a study conducted by Egeberg et al., (2016) highlighted the http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 132-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license importance of good classroom management in the teaching learning process. They asserted that “classroom management, including both instructional and behavioral management, is a significant issue for teachers, school leaders, system administrators, and the public. It heavily affects community perceptions, teacher efficacy and wellbeing, and the standards of achievement of students” (Egeberg et al., 2016, p. 1). Thus, classroom management plays an important role in the creation of a supportive learning environment triggering students’ academic engagement aimed at developing their potential. Other researchers argued that classroom management is of great importance in triggering students’ engagement, which in turn leads to positive effects on their achievement (Almarghani and Mijatovic, 2017; Balan and Metcalfe, 2012; Wright and Angelini, 2012). The attempt to create meaningful supportive learning environment, however, is not without challenges. This is why the issue of classroom management, with a focus on teacher's instructional behavior becomes one of the main issue attracting interventionists (Clair et al., 2018). This paper examines the strategies and challenges that lecturers face in the teaching learning process, and examine how they navigate issues of classroom management, especially in the English Speaking course. METHOD Research Design This qualitative research focuses on the classroom management strategies in EFL Speaking classes. The researchers examined classroom management strategies utilized by Public Speaking lecturers, particularly on the aspects of classroom management that lecturers utilized to create a challenging learning environment. For this reason, a case study is used for this research to examine and explore lecturers’ classroom management strategies. Case study research is a qualitative approach. The researcher explores a bounded system (a case), an event, or a small group of community members with in-depth analysis (Creswell, 2014). In a similar vein, Yin (2018) argued that a case study is called a study investigating the phenomenon within the real context. Therefore, in terms of research design, this work can be considered a case study as it examined the strategies of classroom management deployed by lecturers in Public Speaking classes. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 133-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Research Participants This research involved three lecturers who agreed to be the participants; they were the lecturers of English Speaking class at the English department in the Faculty of Education and Teacher Training of Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Indonesia. The researchers used a purposive sampling technique to select the participants. According to Richard and Yvonne (2008), in purposive sampling, each sample element is selected for a purpose because of the unique position of the sample element. In this research, the researchers only selected lecturers assigned to lecture Public Speaking class as the research sample. As there were six Public Speaking classes in the 2019/2020 Academic Year, the researchers decided to use a random sampling technique in recruiting the participants of this research. Data Collection The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observation to gain in-depth information concerning lecturers’ classroom management strategies in an EFL Speaking class. This type of interview allowed much more space for interviewees to answer on their terms than a structured interview. The researchers had a list of questions and an interview guide to cover during the interview. With the participants' agreement, the interview session was recorded. The interviews ranged from fifteen to thirty minutes for each interviewee. Data analysis The interview data recorded on audiotapes were fully transcribed to find the relevant information. The data were then coded. The researchers used the coded data to produce a conceptual framework, classifying the data into specific group categories (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Common emerging themes from the interview were identified. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis procedures to generate a list of possible themes based on the purpose of the study. In analyzing the data, the participants were addressed through the symbol “P”. For example, “P1” refers to participant 1. Data from observation were used to confirm and validate participants’ insights from the interview sessions with the participants' actual classroom management practices. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Findings Several themes were identified from the data analysis, namely classroom management strategies, http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 134-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license seating arrangement, code of conduct, differentiated instruction, encouraging participation, correcting mistakes, providing interesting topics, and engaging students in learning. Classroom Management Strategies The interview was conducted on 30th May 2019 and 7th June 2019. The researcher interviewed three PBI's lecturers who teach speaking in Public Speaking Class. Two participants were interviewed on the same day (on 30th May 2019), and the third participant was interviewed a week after that (on 7th June 2019). Although the researchers asked the interview questions in English, the participants were allowed to answer in English and Indonesian to answer the questions. There were nine questions related to the research questions given to the participants. Our first inquiry was regarding the perception of the definition of classroom management. This question was asked to examine the participant's perception of classroom management. Their responses were as transcribed in the following: Classroom management is how we manage all the classrooms and get all the participants involved in the class activities. We have to find out the clue how we encourage them to engage in the classroom. (P1) Similarly, P2 stated: Classroom management is how we manage the class or the room, so the teaching and learning process can run smoothly and reach our target of teaching and learning process for certain subjects. (P2) In addition, P3 mentioned that classroom management is: classroom setting, or the process of setting the classroom. All lecturers participating in the study had a common understanding of what it means by classroom management. They said that classroom management is the term which was related to the setting of the class, maintaining discipline, managing the class to be more effective for the learning activities, making students active in the class, getting them to get involved in classroom activities, encouraging students to speak actively about the material or topic and also the seating arrangement which is effective for the speaking class. Varied seating arrangement Regarding classroom management strategies as practiced by lectures, we found that lecturers used various seating arrangements. The researchers http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 135-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license found the answer to their effort in creating an effective learning environment, especially for speaking classes. The answer is shown below: I like to set the seating arrangement in a U-shape. When the seating arrangement is set in a U-shape, I can teach the students easily. I can walk around the class to control the students. If I find students busy with their work, I can easily come to that student and ask them to pay attention to the lesson. I also like to set the seating arrangement in group work and pairs. If the students work in a group, they can share their experiences. Another benefit of group work is that the weak students can learn from the strong student (smart students). I usually set the seating arrangement depending on the learning goals I want to achieve. (P1) Other participants also stated that I normally arrange the chairs into a U-shape or circle to communicate with each other easily. (P2) Another comment was also raised by P3, as he stated: Mostly I like active class. I want all participants to be active in the classroom. I do not want to be the center of attention, but I want all people in the classroom to involve actively, and I want the student to be central. It is not good for a teacher to be central because everyone is waiting for me if it is teacher's central. I want the students to have the idea, so the teacher will not be the center of attention. (P3) The response above shows that the classroom's physical design becomes the first component of classroom management. The participants explain that seating arrangement is one of the most important aspects of creating an effective learning environment; it has a significant effect in helping students to cooperate. They also mention that arranging student's desks depended on students' needs and the learning goals they want to achieve. As shown above, the seating arrangement they usually display in the speaking class was in traditional rows, in U-shapes or semicircles, in a group of four, and the last is in pairs. Setting the code of conduct The researchers prepared this question to know how the implementation of discipline works in the speaking class. Here are their responses to the question: I will not allow the students to enter the class if they come five minutes late after class. Because I http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 136-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license never come late and I always try to be on time. I tell them since the first meeting of the speaking class. I set up the rules for them. Every student in my class is fine about the rules, and they are punctual. It depends on how we manage the classroom. If you are not disciplined, you do not show the students a good example. Of course, the students will follow you. So, if you want to implement discipline to the students, first you should be disciplined. Do not ask the students to be punctual, but you are always late. It is impossible, and it does not work. (P1) Another participant also mentions: I make the rules. If the students come late, I will not allow them to join the class because it can bother the teaching and learning process, bother the lecturer's concentration, and all students in the class. Normally at the beginning of the class, I always remind the students that if they come late six times, it means they are absent from the class for one time. (P2) This is also in line with the other two quotations, as P3 asserted: Discipline? Yes, we have already committed from the beginning of the class when we start the class. The finding showed that discipline is one of the most important aspects of maintaining a comfortable and safe learning situation. Effective classroom management begins with the establishment of classroom rules on the first day of the class meeting. The participants explained that the implementation of discipline prevents students from coming late to class and makes it easy to control students' misbehavior. When you implement the discipline, make sure that you do it first. When you asked the student to be disciplined, you should show them a good example of discipline and maintaining discipline. Differentiated instruction To allow students to learn better, teachers were very creative in shaping the participant’s effort to create an effective learning environment. Here are the participants' responses to the question: It depends on the material. Usually, I ask them to work in a group, I give them the topic, and then they have to discuss the topic with their friends in the group. I will give http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 137-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license them 50 minutes to do the discussion. After they finished the discussion, they have to present the discussion result in front of the class individually. (P1) The other participants also suggested that: I like to ask them to work in a group. I allow them to choose the topic that they love. I give them time to prepare and discuss the topic. After that, I ask them to do a presentation in front of the class. (P2) I want to create a natural classroom environment; I want all the students to have the opportunity to show what they have in their mind, their feeling and their idea. So, I will not force them to accept what I give to them. I want to encourage them to come up with their own idea. (P3) Choosing appropriate and suitable learning activities will be an exact way of promoting student's engagement. Regarding the learning activities, the researcher found that the participants used group work and presentation in speaking class to make students involve actively during the teaching-learning process. The participants also explained that the way they made students active in the class was by letting students choose the topic and then prepare about that topic and after that ask students to present in front of the class. Encouraging for participation This question was asked to see how participants solve the problem when they have difficulties in managing the speaking class. I have a long time of teaching experience. I think I never found difficulties in managing the speaking class. Sometimes, it is hard to make the students express their ideas because we learn a different language and do not have enough vocabulary. (P1) Similarly, P2 also stated: I found no difficulties during teaching speaking, but sometimes it is hard to make all students involve actively in the class. P3 also asserted that: I do not have any problems with them, but some students are silent, mostly male students who do not want to talk in the classroom. Nevertheless, this is not a big issue. Correcting students’ mistakes This question was asked to strengthen the previous question. However, this question was indirectly answered by the previous question. http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 138-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license Here are the participant's responses to the question: Teaching is challenging, not only for speaking class. Every teaching is challenging because some students came from different school backgrounds and were taught by different teachers. One of the challenges that I used to find was when the students pronounce incorrectly that I cannot understand. Then, I tell them the correct pronunciation, but they will make the same mistake the following week. This is also challenging because it is hard to change their previous knowledge. (P1) In line with his counterpart, P2 stated: Their self-confidence is still low. Sometimes even they have good vocabularies, but they still find difficulties expressing their ideas in the class. I always suggest they do more and more practice because they will be more confident to speak in front of the class by having more practice. Another issue is about the facilities. Sometimes we need a projector for the learning activity, but it is a little bit hard to get the projector. (P2) The responses above show that in managing the speaking class, the participants also found some challenges. The challenges were related to equipment and classroom facilities, the self-confidence of the students, and the lack of vocabulary. Providing interesting topics This question was asked to know if there is any specific strategy used by the participants in managing the speaking class. Here are their responses to the question. Strategy? Just ask the student to speak. There is no other way. When you give them a topic, try to analyze whether interested in the topic or not. A teacher should be aware of what she/he teaches in the class. (Pl) Other participants also argued that giving interesting topics for students to discuss is important. The topics will, in fact, boost students’ confidence. In his own words, P2 suggested: I do not have any specific strategy to make them speak actively in the class. I let them come up with their idea. In speaking class, we must build students' confidence and give them the confidence to show their idea. If we want to know what kind of topic they love, let them choose what topic they are familiar with. (P2) http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 139-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license In addition, P3 argued that introducing future topics also helps increase students’ learning focus, as he mentioned during the interview. I try to encourage the students to participate in a conversation actively. We deal with it before we start something. For example, next week, we will start our speech, and they have to prepare for the speech, and I will give them one week to think about the idea and then send me a message about the idea; then, I will check it first. After that, I will give them one week free, and in the 3rd week, they will present their presentation in the classroom. So mostly, we are dealing, and we commit, and the students obey the commitments. What happened today? We already talked about it, and I don't want to repeat it every time during the class. So, we will discuss any topics. We all agree with this, so we don't have any problem during the classroom because we already committed before. (P3) Another component that makes the speaking class more conducive and active is choosing the most interesting topic to discuss. As a facilitator, the lecturer must be aware of what the students want to study. Based on the interview result, the researchers found that the participants let the students decide what topic to discuss. It was found that the participants provide some topics for the students to choose from, such as real-life topics, interesting topics, and others. A lecturer as a classroom manager must be clear when giving instruction. The lecturer can also use student’s ideas in developing the teaching and learning materials. When you let the students get involved in choosing the topic they love, it makes them more active in speaking about the topic because they must choose the topic they are familiar with. The lecturer should be more pleasing and realistic toward student's needs and interests, make students feel comfortable enough during the learning process. When students realize that their lecturer cares about what they need and what they want to learn, it makes them more confident in expressing their idea. Engaging students in learning Our finding shows that teachers should be creative in encouraging students’ learning engagement. Some participants argued that: Because you teach speaking and conversation in English, please use English and not teach English in Bahasa. (P1) http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 140-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license The participant suggests that teachers should consider using appropriate classroom language, in which he suggested that teachers need to communicate directly in English as they are English teachers. The other participant, P2, stated that: Be a good educator for your students, pay attention to your way of correcting student’s mistakes, and use English when you are teaching speaking to make them practice their speaking and pronunciation. In addition, P3 also argued that: The first issue is we have to get the students engaged in the conversation which involves finding an idea and forcing them to find something they love. Something they are familiar with. You know when they are familiar with a situation; it is going to be easy for them to come up with an idea to talk about. Otherwise, it will be hard for them to deal with. For example, if I force them to talk about my topic, it will be hard for them, and they might not be familiar with my suggested topics. They need to come up with their idea, and it is going to be easy for them to research the topic, and it will be easy for them to participate in the classroom (P3). Discussion This section presents a discussion based on the findings of this research. The discussion provided the answer to two research questions related to classroom management in speaking class. The first research question relates to the strategies used by the lecturers in managing the speaking class and the second question discusses the challenges faced by the lecturers in managing the classroom in teaching speaking. The research findings generated from classroom observation and interviews showed that the lecturers use some strategies in managing the speaking class. The strategies were related to the class setting, such as seating arrangement, maintaining discipline, getting students to be actively involved in the learning process, and choosing an interesting topic to discuss. Regarding the statement, in this research, the researchers found out that arranging effective physical environments such as setting appropriate seating arrangements for students positively impacts students’ behavior and the learning result. This is in line with the statement put forward by Varank (2013), asserting that a physical classroom environment means seating http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 141-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license arrangement contributes to the overall quality of the teaching-learning process. The participants mentioned that the seating arrangements they experienced when managing the speaking class included cluster style (grouping), U-shape style, and pair style. The cluster or grouping style emphasizes the importance of students working together to construct knowledge. The participants said that when they set the class in a group, they mixed the students with varying abilities so that the weak students can learn from strong or smart students. Besides the cluster style, the participants also set the class in a U- shape. This arrangement was intended to make the lecturer easy to observe and manage the students. This arrangement also emphasized the importance of students' talking directly to each other, and it also allowed for collaborative knowledge construction by pairing students. The participants said this arrangement enables students to observe the center of the room, making it easy for the lecturers to maintain attention when talking. The fact that both students and lecturers were able to engage in the teaching-learning process using a certain seating style is an important factor in improving students’ learning experience. On this note, Egeberg, McConney, and Price suggested that “effective classroom management strategies are designed to create positive learning environments by building in positive supports that prevent challenging classroom behavior before the implementation of more reactive behavioral approaches” (2016, p. 5). The participants also explained that when they set the seating arrangement in a pairing style, it makes them easy to move around and talk with the student individually or with pairs. This arrangement was also suitable for group activities because the students can work in a group of two, and by having one pair turn their chairs around to join the group behind them, students can quickly form a group of four. The findings suggest that “... teacher actions and instructional techniques to create a learning environment that facilitate and support active engagement in both academic and social-emotional learning” (McDonald, 2013, p. 20). The other finding indicates that maintaining discipline is significant. Classroom management is certainly concerned with behavior and student's control of their learning. Based on the interview result, the participant made the rules in the first meeting of the speaking class. These rules were http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 142-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license applied to decrease student's misbehavior and make the classroom environment suitable for the smooth running of the teaching and the learning process. As mentioned in the interview result, the participant also made the rules to anticipate students coming late to the class and asked to be on time in the speaking class. Communicating classroom expectations to students is one of the strategies that can be utilized to set up the foundation of the teaching-learning process. This is in line with the statement of Egeberg et al., who stated that “Effective classroom management strategies are designed to create positive learning environments by building in positive supports that prevent challenging classroom behavior prior to the implementation of more reactive behavioral approaches” (2016, p. 5). Teachers’ ability to control the classroom would result in the achievement of required instructional goals (Smith & Smith, 2006). Another outcome of the findings of the strategies in managing the speaking class was conducting appropriate learning activities. The researcher found that the lecturer used group discussion and presentation to make the speaking class more active and conducive. The lecturer asked the students to work in a group and discuss the material with their friends. After that, they were asked to present it in front of the class. Thus, beside sound classroom management skills, teachers’ ability to adopt suitable methods in creating learning engagement and supportive learning environment is critical (Oliver & Reschly, 2010). The last finding of managing the speaking effectively is providing and choosing an interesting topic to discuss. The lecturer has a significant role in motivating students to learn speaking. Motivation is the need or reason and a feeling of interest in doing something. In learning, process motivation is important and needed because the motivated student learns effectively rather than an unmotivated student. This is in line with the study conducted by Rawya (2012) who identified the positive effects of motivation on students’ speaking performance. Within the context of this study, the lecturers enhance student's motivation by letting students choose the most interesting topic to discuss in the speaking class. The topic is related to a real-life topic, the newest issue about social life, politic, etc. The participants explain that choosing such a topic motivates the student to interact and participate easily. This strategy proved that the students become more active in talking in the speaking class because http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 143-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license the topic is interesting to discuss and they are familiar with the topic. On the other hand, the findings of this research indicate that the participants faced some challenges in managing the speaking class. These challenges were related to equipment and classroom facilities, lack of vocabulary and interference of the mother tongue problem, and the students’ self-confidence. When teaching speaking, sometimes lecturers need a projector. However, it is hard to get the projector, and sometimes several classes at the university do not have enough chairs, so the students have to move to another room to find the chairs, and it is wasting time. Lack of facilities has been considered as one of the main factors affecting the effective learning environment. Another challenge the participants faced in speaking class is students’ lack of vocabulary. The lack of vocabulary makes the students feel that they could not find the appropriate vocabulary to express their thought and their idea in the speaking activity. When the students do not have enough vocabulary to speak in the class actively, they choose to remain silent because they are afraid of making mistakes or speaking with the wrong word. This particular challenge has a close relationship with the instructional method used by the lecturers. The teaching approach, in this case, is considered the most important factor affecting students’ skills. Implementing active learning methods, in any subject, have been acknowledged to have positive impacts on students’ involvement which in turn yield in better achievement (Hallinger & Lu, 2013; Kirstein & Kufz, 2015). The last is about the self-confidence of the students. The participants mentioned that students have low self- confidence to be actively involved in the speaking class, especially for the male they do not want to talk to and participate in the classroom activity. The effect of anxiety on students’ speaking ability has been well documented, one of which by Habiburrahim et al. (2020). They suggested that low self-confidence affects students’ speaking ability, which could be observed through “the difficulties in constructing sentences and expressing the idea when they spoke in the target language” (2020, p. 254). In conclusion, based on the classroom observation and semi- structured interview results, the participants created the classroom environment to be more pleasant for the learning process. The seats were arranged based on the learning http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 8 (1), 2021 144-146 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v8i1.20146 P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license objectives. The lecturer also used some speaking activities to make the students get involved in the speaking class. Those activities were like instructing the lesson, providing such an interesting topic to discuss, letting the students decide what lecturers should teach in the speaking class, etc. The lecturer also arranges the class and makes the atmosphere pleasant to make students comfortable and enjoy their learning process. To prevent students' misbehavior, students make the rules at the first meeting of the class, such as not being late and trying to be on time. The lecturer explicitly showed the students a good example of discipline by always being punctual and preparing before entering the class, and managing the class well. Besides, there are some difficulties or challenges faced by the lecturer in managing the speaking class. As shown in the observation and interview result, those challenges were related to the equipment, lack of vocabulary, and student’s self-confidence. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION This research aims to analyze the strategy used by the lecturer in managing the speaking class. Based on the result of this research, some strategies are used by the lecturer to manage the speaking class. These are setting appropriate seating arrangements, managing learning activities, choose the most interesting topic to discuss, and making students discipline by setting the rules on the first meeting. There were also some challenges faced by the lecturer in managing the speaking class. Those challenges are related to classroom facilities, such as no enough projectors, several classes do not have enough chairs, so the students have to search the chain in another room. The other challenges are related to the students. Those are student's confidence and lack of vocabulary. Some students do not have enough vocabulary to speak, and they do not have the bravery to express their idea because of a lack of confidence. The results of this research can be used as one reference in investigating the issue of classroom management in other settings or courses. Although this research was confined to Public Speaking classes in the context of State Islamic University in Indonesia, it provides insights on strategies and challenges faced by EFL lecturers that can be replicated in other fields of study. REFERENCES Almarghani, E. M., & Mijatovic, I. (2017). 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