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I've got a friend playing in my party as a Breton cleric. But he never really engages, he just attacks in combat, and hangs back in talking to people

Any tips in getting him to be more engaged?
He seems to be enjoying the game but it may just be watching the dumb stuff we do

I've given some tips like "try speaking with a French accent" or "think of some prayers or rituals your characters would say after fighting undead or before sleeping

Oh and everytime I say "try speaking with a French accent" he replies by saying "honhonhon Qui Qui, Bagguette"
not really relevant, but it's funny (or atleast it was the 1st time)

Are you the GM? If so it is easy. Put him in a situation where he must role-play.

For example, have him be accused of a crime in a local town by the local magistrate. How does he prove his innocence? How does he get his party of murder hobos to help him?

Another example, force him to get seperated from the party and encounter an injured prisoner of the monsters. What does he do? What about when the rest of the party finds them?

A third example, have him run into a fellow Cleric in his same order. Naturally, he wants to talk about the faith with your friend.

In other words, as GM you can move the spotlight around from character to character to force them to do things....

I'm not, but I'll send this to the GM, thanks buddy

Why ?

So you have someone whose having fun playing the game his way and you're going to have the DM force him to play it a different way, horrible idea that could easily backfire. It amuses me when someone whose talkative in real life says their roleplaying the "correct way" when they're just playing themselves in the game, maybe he's just roleplaying the strong silent type.

I get where you're coming from, but its that he's more enjoying being around us than playing the game. I know from previous games that he likes being loud, and isn't that good at playing a character. so I'm going to give him a chance to be the centre of attention and let him be loud I've been thinking about it and he'd do well roleplaying in say a trial situation simply from what I know about him. I think part of the problem about his lack of involvement was from being dropped in a fantasy setting he isn't very familiar with. So I'm putting him in a debate, something the real world him is good at

I don't want to force him to be uncomfortable but hes only really playing half the game, I want him to be able to enjoy the full game by giving him a chance to engage a bit more, he hasn't really had a chance yet

And he isn't roleplaying the "strong silent type"
When we first met him there was uncontrollable screaming from him because his pet mouse Graham was injured (quickly solved by our paladin)

As a fellow player, ask him what he is doing a lot. Ask questions so he has to be somewhat specific.

Example....

"I'm going to sit by the fire and widdle a stick. French Priest, what are you doing?"

"Ahhh..... sitting by the fire too."

"Do you have your mouse with you?"

".... my mouse.... sure...."

"What's he doing?"

"Ummm.... nibbling on some celery."

"Celery? My character asks French priest.... "Celery? Where'd you get that from? We've been on the road for three days?"

..... you see where I am going? You move the spotlight to him as a player. That is the great thing about RPGs. The spotlight keeps moving.

Thanks for the tip. That's very useful

One reason players can feel disengaged is that they don't feel like their characters are effective.

A good piece of advice for every DM is Just Say Yes. Whenever a player asks, can my character try ... ? say Yes - but also ask, how is your character trying to ... ? Your job as the DM is to narrate the consequences of character actions. Encourage the players' creativity by allowing them to succeed, or at least work towards success.

Example:

Player: Can my character make a poison?

DM: No, you're a fighter, fighters don't make poisons.

AVOID this kind of dynamic. Instead try:

DM: Sure, how are you going to make it?

Player: Well, do I know anything about poisons?

DM: You tell me - did your character pick up some knowledge at some point in her life?

Manchu: I think that is one of the quirks of D&D's class system. While it encourages separate roles (and there is something to be said for that), it does so often at the expense of a more expansive, realistic character. It's why many literary characters like Conan never really fit the rigid class model.

I like how FATE encourages players to take center stage, but also to not ignore weaknesses and share the spotlight. 13th Age also does a good job of allowing skill areas that aren't quite so shoe horned, but still follows a more structured approach for those who want a crunchier system.