One of the most important skills for an individual to learn is speaking skills. In preparation to enter the job market, students should be able to communicate effectively. There is a need to identify the language learning strategies used by good learners in learning speaking skills. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the language learning strategies (LLS) in learning speaking skills and the motivation level to learn speaking by the Semester 1 engineering Diploma students in a polytechnic in Sarawak. A quantitative research was carried out. The purposive sampling method was used in selecting the respondents. Based on the findings, metacognitive strategies were the most used LLS while social strategies were the least used LLS. Learners' motivation level was average with low self-esteem as one of the factors that influenced the learning of speaking skills. More studies should be conducted to study the factors affecting the use of LLS among students for the exact purpose of understanding their way of learning a language. Students should also be aware of how to use LLS in learning speaking to develop their speaking abilities.

English language has been used globally. In Malaysia, to strengthen the English proficiency among the Malaysian students, English language is introduced as a compulsory subject at both primary and secondary schools and administered under the language education policy. Students in secondary school must learn the language for the sake of their future endeavours. As teachers, it is their role to grab the students' attention to learn English language through reading. However, most of the students nowadays never show the interest to read. Various kinds of authentic materials could be used to help the students in their language acquisition and to bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and students' capacity to participate in the real-world situation. Prior to this, the researcher finds that authentic materials are useful in enhancing the secondary school students to read and help the students to explore more knowledge from this borderless world. In accordance to encourage the students in secondary school to read, this review will expose the readers to the use of authentic materials in teaching reading, the roles of authentic materials in developing the reading skill among the secondary students, and the teachers' role in teaching reading by using the authentic materials. Most of the findings have shown that authentic materials give positive impacts to the secondary school students to improve their reading skill. In short, the more materials the students read, the more knowledgeable they will become.

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