<![CDATA[Kurikulum Merdeka pushes Indonesian secondary schools toward Student-Centered Learning (SCL), but classroom-level enactment does not always follow the policy script. This study examines that gap through a two-stage qualitative design: an exploratory observation-checklist mapping across eleven secondary schools in Batam, followed by an intensive case study of one classroom selected because it showed the sharpest contrast between strong lesson-plan compliance and weak student participation. Over a six-week period, data were generated through non-participant classroom observations, field notes, and semi-structured interviews with one EFL teacher and six students grouped into high-, moderate-, and low-motivation tiers, then analyzed using Bogdan and Biklen's code-families framework. The findings show that the teacher's lesson plan was rated highly compliant with SCL and Kurikulum Merdeka expectations, yet open-ended classroom tasks routinely broke down into extended silence. Foreign language anxiety_tied to limited vocabulary, fear of peer judgment, and unfamiliarity with unscripted speaking, pushed students toward strategic silence, which the teacher managed by reverting to first-language (L1) mediation and more teacher-led questioning. These patterns should be read as evidence from one critical case rather than a general trend across Indonesian classrooms: they show that a lesson plan's alignment with SCL principles does not by itself guarantee student participation. Supporting learners through this gap is likely to depend on gradual vocabulary preparation, affective safety, and structured scaffolding, rather than treating teacher-led support as a pedagogical failure.]]>
