Speaking Confidence Among Sasak-Speaking EFL Learners at Institut Elkatarie, Lombok Timur

Abstract

This study examines the factors shaping speaking confidence among students of the English Language Education Study Program at Institut Elkatarie, East Lombok, most of whom speak Sasak as their first language, together with the experiences through which that confidence develops and the strategies learners employ to strengthen it. A qualitative case study design was adopted, treating the study program as a bounded system. Data were generated through in-depth interviews with 29 students and 4 speaking lecturers, non-participant observation of speaking classes, and analysis of the speaking syllabus and academic records, collected from February to May 2026. Analysis followed the interactive model of Miles et al. (2014), and credibility was established through source and technique triangulation, member checking, peer debriefing, and an audit trail. The findings show that speaking confidence is shaped by the interaction of internal conditions, namely vocabulary and grammatical control, pronunciation, self-efficacy, motivation, prior speaking experience, and anxiety, with external conditions, namely lecturer feedback, peer response, the classroom climate, and opportunities for authentic use. Confidence developed gradually rather than abruptly, advancing through accumulated experiences of successful performance, and learners sustained it through independent rehearsal, vocabulary enrichment, habitual informal use, digital media engagement, and a reframing of error as part of learning. The study contributes a three-layer account of confidence formation in a trilingual rural setting.