Unheard Voices: Navigating Learning Style Mismatches in Eastern Indonesian Classrooms

In Papua, Indonesia, English education is situated within a unique policy context in which the Special Autonomy Law mandates English as a second language, yet it is often taught as a foreign language in practice. This discrepancy has contributed to challenges in developing students’ speaking proficiency. This study aimed to explore the mismatch between 7th-grade students’ learning styles and teachers’ instructional strategies in a junior high school in Sorong, Indonesia with the goal of proposing more adaptive teaching approaches. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining the VARK learning style questionnaire with qualitative interviews to gather data on students' preferences and classroom practices. The results showed that aligning teaching strategies with students’ diverse learning styles significantly improved their speaking skills. These findings underscored the importance of implementing adaptive instructional methods to meet varied learning needs and enhance English language proficiency among junior high school learners in Indonesia. This research contributes to the growing evidence supporting learning style-based instruction, particularly in the context of English language education in Indonesian junior high schools.