<![CDATA[This study investigated the EFL speaking needs of Grade 7 students at SMPN 3 Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia, using Hutchinson and Waters’ (1987) tripartite needs analysis framework. A mixed-method design was employed, combining a 25-items Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 31 students with a semi-structured interview conducted with their English teacher. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data was analyzed thematically following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase procedure. The findings revealed that curricular necessities under Kurikulum Merdeka prioritized communicative fluency and meaning-focused oral production. The most critical lack was students’ inability to speak without script (M = 2,47), compounded by performance anxiety related to fear of making mistakes (M = 3,43). Students’ highest-ranked instructional wants were teacher modeling (M = 4,13) and game-based activities (M = 4,03), both of which aligned positively with identified curricular necessities. These findings suggest that students’ wants functions as targeted responses to specific lacks, serving as a conceptual bridge towards meeting curricular necessities. Findings are expected to inform a speaking syllabus design that is curriculum-complaint, learner-responsive, and culturally grounded]]>
Copyrights © 2026
