Novel is one of the literary works that people like to read for several reasons. The readers are not only adults but also teenagers and children. Novels can be a good source of knowledge for everyone including students. Reading novels can give many positive impacts in terms of language and emotions. However, the existence of novels is banned at some schools in Indonesia. The banning is based on several reasons. This paper investigated the perspectives of students and teachers related to the banning of novels in a school in Indonesia. This research used a descriptive qualitative design. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with students and teachers at the school. The result showed that there were several problems related to the use of the novels in terms of kinds and the reading time of the novels. However, the use of novels is also beneficial in terms of emotion, habits, and knowledge. Considering the advantages and the disadvantages of novels at school, this research provided suggestions related to the ban of novels in terms of kinds of novels and reading time.

Speaking becomes one of the English skills that should be developed. One of the schools that provided a special speaking class for the students was the Islamic Boarding Based Junior High School of Amanatul Ummah. Speaking class was labeled as a conversation subject in this school. In conversation class, the teachers are required to improve the students’ speaking skills. The teachers who handled a conversation subject were foreign teachers who used full English during teaching and learning. This paper investigates the foreign teachers’ perspectives of the teaching conversation subject. This research used descriptive qualitative. The data was obtained through observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation. The result of this research showed that the foreign teachers faced several problems related to the students’ understanding, engagement, and teaching materials. The strategies used by the teachers were using digital tools, gestures, language simplifying, early materials preparation, and discussion with senior EFL teachers. This research contributes to the literature of English language teaching related to the teaching conversation subject.