Putri Anggraeni, et al / Journal of English Language Teaching 6 (1) (2017) 45 ELT FORUM 9 (1) (2020) Journal of English Language Teaching http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt Junior High School Students’ Difficulties of English Language Learning in the Speaking and Listening Section Alan Jaelani 1 , Olivia Widad Zabidi 2 English Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Ibn khaldun, Indonesia Article Info ________________ Article History: Received in 13 April 2020 Approved in 1 July 2020 Published in 30 July 2020 ________________ Keywords: English Education; Difficulties Learning; English Speaking; English Listening; English Learning Strategies. _________________ Abstract _________________________________________________________________ This study aims to determine students' problems in learning English, especially in terms of speaking and listening. Basically, the teaching and learning process will run smoothly if students feel comfortable with the learning activities; therefore, this research provides some appropriate suggestions for teachers in overcoming difficulties faced by students. The respondents of this study were junior high school students. This study used a questionnaire as an instrument to determine the extent of students' skills in English. This study also conducted data analysis by analyzing the importance of English in students' views, the difficulties encountered in learning English, and also the teacher's teaching strategies desired by students. The results of this study indicate that most students have some difficulties in speaking due to lack of confidence and skills such as pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Likewise, the difficulty in listening is caused by students’ lack of vocabulary that leads to the difficulty in understanding conversations in English. To overcome this problem, teachers need to have strategies such as identification, diagnosis, prognosis, and assistance or therapy. This research can facilitate the teachers in knowing complaints about English language difficulties experienced by the students. © 2020 Universitas Negeri Semarang  Correspondent Address: p-ISSN 2252-6706 | e-ISSN 2721-4532 KH. Sholeh Iskandar Km. 2 Street, Kedung Badak Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229 E-mail: author@gmail.com