Teachers’ Strategies to Overcome Students’ Difficulties in Learning English Vocabulary at Islamic Boarding School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i1.10530Keywords:
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT); Teaching Strategies; Vocabulary Learning DifficultiesAbstract
This study aims to explore how teachers overcome students’ difficulties in learning English vocabulary at Pesantren Yapid At-Taubah by identifying students’ challenges, influencing factors, and the strategies used by the teacher. This research employed a qualitative method involving one English teacher and several students selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through classroom observations and interviews and analyzed using data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings reveal that students experience difficulties in pronunciation, word complexity, grammatical patterns, understanding meaning, and listening comprehension. These difficulties are influenced by internal factors such as low motivation and limited vocabulary mastery, as well as external factors such as teaching methods and limited exposure to English. To address these challenges, the teacher applied various strategies, including determination, social, memory strategies, cognitive, and metacognitive strategies, as well as vocabulary notebooks and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). These strategies were found to be effective in helping students understand, retain, and use vocabulary more appropriately, thereby improving their vocabulary mastery and confidence.
References
Alqahtani, M. (2015). The importance of vocabulary in language learning and how to be taught. International Journal of Teaching and Education, 3(3), 21–34.
Fitriani, S. S., & Nurhidayat, E. (2022). Exploring students’ vocabulary learning strategies in EFL classroom. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 12(1), 123–134.
Griffiths, C. (2008). Lessons from good language learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hidayati, N. (2018). Teaching vocabulary through contextual learning. Journal of Language and Education, 4(2), 89–97.
Husnaini, H. (2022). Development of Self Esteem-Oriented Micro Teaching Materials for IAIN Palopo English Education Students. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 10(1), 538-560.
Kurniawan, E., & Utami, S. (2019). Students’ difficulties in learning English vocabulary. Journal of English Education, 4(1), 45–52.
Masruddin, M., Amir, F., Langaji, A., & Rusdiansyah, R. (2023). Conceptualizing linguistic politeness in light of age. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 11(3), 41-55.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. New York: Newbury House.
Putri, N. K., & Refnaldi. (2020). The use of communicative language teaching in teaching vocabulary. Journal of English Language Teaching, 9(1), 67–75.
Rahmawati, D. (2021). The use of vocabulary learning strategies and their impact on students’ vocabulary mastery. Journal of English Language Teaching, 10(2), 145–152.
Sari, M., & Zainil. (2021). Students’ problems in learning English vocabulary and the factors affecting them. Journal of English Language Teaching, 10(3), 321–330.
Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary learning strategies. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 199–227). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Susanto, A. (2017). The teaching of vocabulary: A perspective. Journal of English and Education, 5(2), 182–191.
Wahyuni, S., & Putra, A. (2023). The role of teacher strategies in improving students’ vocabulary mastery. Journal of English Education Studies, 6(1), 55–63.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
Citation Check
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ainun Jariah Usman, Abdullah, Muhammad Tahir

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See the Effect of Open Access)
