An Analysis of Students’ Difficulties in Learning English Vocabulary at Seventh Grade of SMP Negeri 11 Tarakan
This study aims to describe the difficulties of seventh-grade students of SMP Negeri 11 Tarakan in learning English vocabulary and to identify the contributing factors. This research used a qualitative descriptive method. The subjects of the study were students of class VII-4 at SMP Negeri 11 Tarakan. Data were collected through classroom observations, interviews with four students and one English teacher, as well as the distribution of questionnaires to 28 students. Data analysis was conducted using the Miles and Huberman model, which includes data reduction, data presentation, and drawing and verifying conclusions. The results of the study indicated that students experience four main difficulties in learning English vocabulary, namely pronunciation (79%), spelling (50%), understanding and remembering the meaning of vocabulary (75%), and using vocabulary in sentences (71%). Pronunciation difficulties are the most dominant difficulties. This study also found five factors causing these difficulties, namely limited exposure to English in daily life, low student learning motivation, the use of less effective learning strategies, lack of parental and home environment support, and limited use of media and variation in teaching methods. It can be concluded that students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary are influenced by interrelated linguistic, cognitive, motivational, learning, and environmental factors. Therefore, teachers are advised to apply more varied, communicative, and interactive teaching methods to improve students' vocabulary mastery.