Oracy Pedagogy in EFL Learning: An Islamic Boarding School Perspective

Abstract

Oracy pedagogy has received increasing attention in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education because of its role in promoting students’ oral communication and classroom interaction. However, little is known about how oracy pedagogy is implemented in Islamic boarding school (pesantren) contexts. This study explored the implementation of oracy pedagogy, students’ oral participation, and the challenges encountered in developing oracy in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia. Guided by Sociocultural Theory, the study employed a qualitative case study design involving one English teacher and six students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observation and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that oracy pedagogy was implemented through interactive and scaffolded speaking activities, and that collaborative interaction supported students’ oral participation. Students nevertheless faced persistent challenges related to confidence, fear of making mistakes, limited vocabulary, and inconsistent opportunities to use English in daily communication, while the pesantren environment functioned simultaneously as a support and a constraint for oracy development. Building on these findings, the discussion critically situates the case within recent international scholarship on oracy, dialogic teaching, and foreign language speaking anxiety, and identifies gaps between programmatic provision and everyday language practice. The study contributes empirical evidence on oracy pedagogy from an underexamined religious-education setting and offers theoretical and practical implications for EFL teaching in similarly structured institutions.