Abstract Name : Rizaldy Hanifa Student No. : 1006102020104 Study Program : English Education Title : Descriptive Study on Students’ Learning Strategies in Developing Speaking Ability at SMAN 3 Banda Aceh (A Descriptive Qualitative Research) Key words: learning strategies, speaking skill This study was a descriptive qualitative research about students’ learning strategies applied in speaking. It was intended to figure out the learning strategies used by low and high speaking performance students in developing their speaking skill as well as differences between the learning strategies used by both learners. The reason for conducting this research was due to the fact that students’ competency in speaking English was still unsatisfactory. The writer believed that one aspect that involved in the process of developing the skill was learning strategies used by the learners. In this study, the data was collected through field research by means of document, questionnaire, and interview. The result of this study indicated that high students had stability in using all learning strategies (memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social) for enhancing their speaking skill which could not be found in low students. Besides, high students employed more learning strategies consciously and appropriately compared to the low students. Based on the research result, it is suggested that students should be trained to be more aware of their own strategies. They should use the language learning strategies more consciously, appropriately, purposefully, and frequently to be successful in developing speaking skill.