Blended Learning Model Implementation ON THE Teaching OF English Speaking Skills IN Post Pandemic Covid-19 Time: Challenge AND Opportunities

Currently, the world is having problems with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Educators should continue to maintain the teaching and learning process and the Speaking skills course at the English Department study program by implementing Blended teaching and learning models. This study aims to describe the challenges and opportunities of implementing the blended learning Model on teaching English speaking skills in the post-pandemic covid-19 pandemic at higher education based on lecturers' perceptions. This research applied a qualitative study. The method used in this research is a descriptive quantitative research method, where the researcher as a key instrument acts as a participant-observer in collecting data in the field. The results of this study found that the lecturer of the speaking skills course experienced several challenges in teaching this subject, namely: financial limitations and adequate learning tools; Network and quota problems; Limitations of Digital Literacy for both lecturers and students; Student Laziness doing tasks independently; Lack of direct practice with Verbal languages; Time limitations in correcting students work and student assignment evaluation methods; consuming a lot times in Teaching Preparation. In addition, this study also found that there were several good opportunities obtained by the lecturer of the speaking skills course during the new standard era post-pandemic covid- 19 time as follows: The material used was authentic material which was mostly taken from YouTube channel; increased student performance; increased self-confidence; students gain recognition from viewers and subscribers; students and lecturers are becoming more creative and innovative; flexible learning time and not limited by time and space; Students' vocabulary increases; and increasing knowledge of digital literacy, both lecturers and students. Based on these findings, the implications of this research are the increase in digital literacy of lecturers and students and the application of blended learning in the pursuit of speaking skills by applying appropriate teaching and learning technology.