The findings of the qualitative case study research on the students’ challenges in learning English at Pesantren Hidayatullah were divided into five sub-themes. The first sub-theme is common challenges faced by the students in learning English at Pesantren Hidayatullah. Second, the most difficult challenges in learning English. Third, the challenges that arise from the school itself. The last sub-theme is the unexpected
challenges that occur in learning English. All these five sub-themes will be explained in depth below which will be supported by the findings of interviews based on the results of data analysis.
4.3.3.1 Common Challenges Faced by the Students in Learning English at Pesantren Hidayatullah
The results of interviews showed that there are some challenges that students usually faced when learning English at Pesantren Hidayatullah. As stated by R1:
“Mentraslit kak, dan kalau bacanya itu suka berbelit belit dan sering salah.”
(Translating and reading, it is complicated and often wrong.) [Partisipan – R1-1]
According to R1, the challenges that she usually faced were translating and reading.
Along with the above statement, R2 also stated that:
“Mentranslit dan membacanya kak.” (Translating and reading.) [Partisipan – R2-1]
Based on the statement mentioned by R2, the common challenges in learning English were translating and reading.
R3 also mentioned her statement that:
“Mentranslit, selain itu cara ngomong Bahasa inggrisnya belum bisa.”
(Translating, besides, still cannot pronounce the word in English.) [Partisipan-R3-1]
From the statement above, R3 said that translating and pronouncing the word in English were the challenges that she usually faced.
Along with the statement stated by R3, R4 mentioned that:
“Susah ngomongnya dan mentranslitnya.” (It is difficult to pronounce and translate it.) [Partisipan-R4-1]
Based on statement stated by R4, hard to pronounce and translate the word were the challenges in learning English.
Along with all the statements that mentioned above, R5 also stated that:
“Pertama, mentranslit, lalu cara membacanya juga susah, kadang ada juga yang satu kata tapi artinya banyak. Kadang juga merasa malas karena susah tadi.”
(First is translating, then, how to pronounce it is also difficult, sometimes there are also one word that has multiple meanings. Sometimes I also feel lazy because it was difficult.) [Partisipan-R5-1]
From the above statement, challenges that R5 usually faced were difficult in translating, pronouncing the word, and laziness in learning English because of the difficulties.
Last statement about common challenges in learning English was mentioned by R6 that:
“Susah menyusun kalimatnya, susah menambah-nambah hurufnya gitu kak.” (It is hard to arrange the sentence and add the letter.) [Partisipan-R6-1]
According to R6’s statement, the challenges in learning English were arranging the word and adding the letter.
In conclusion, the findings of the interview with six students showed that common challenges in learning English were difficult in translating, reading, pronouncing, arranging, and adding the word in English. Therefore, students feel lazy to learn English.
4.3.3.2 Most Difficult Challenges Faced by the Students in Learning English
From the findings of the interview, there are some difficult challenges faced by the students in learning English. As stated by R1:
“Yang paling sulit masih sama kak, mentranslate tadi.” (The most difficult challenge is still the same, translating.) [Partisipan-R1-2]
From above statement, R1 stated that most difficult challenge in learning English was translating.
And then, R2 mentioned that:
“Juga sama kak mentranslate.” (Still the same, translating.) [Partisipan-R2-2]
R2 claimed that the most difficult challenge in learning English was translating.
Besides that, R3 stated that:
“Menyebutkan kata-kata dalam Bahasa inggris dengan benar.” (Pronouncing words in English correctly.) [Partisipan-R3-2]
According to R3, pronouncing words in English was the most difficult challenge in learning English.
Along with the above statement, R4 also stated that:
“Menyebut kata-kata dalam Bahasa inggris.” (Pronouncing words in English.) [Partisipan-R4-2]
R4 also thought that pronouncing words in English was the most difficult challenge in learning English.
Next, R5 mentioned her statement:
“Mencari arti translit tadi” (Looking for the meaning of the translation.) [Partisipan-R5-2]
Based on the statement above, R5 claimed that translating was the most difficult challenge in learning English.
Furthermore, R6 mentioned that:
“Mencari kata-kata yang artinya yang tidak ada di kamus.” (Searching for the meanings of words that are unavailable in dictionary.) [Partisipan-R6-2]
According to R6, the most difficult challenge in learning English was looking for the meanings of some words that are not in dictionary.
From the results of the interview above, the most difficult challenges that students faced when learning English were translating, pronouncing words in English, and discovering the meaning of words not found in dictionary.
4.3.3.3 Challenges in Learning English that Arise from the School
According to the findings of the interview, there are some challenges in learning English that emerge from the school itself. As mentioned by R1:
“Fasilitasnya itu kurang memadai kak, kalau lingkungan sih lumayan mendukung.” (The facilities are not adequate, but the environment is quite supportive.) [Partisipan-R1-3]
From the above statement, the challenge in learning English that caused by the school was the inadequate facilities.
Then, R2 also stated her statement that:
“Fasilitasnya masih kurang mencukupi” (The facilities are still insufficient.) [Partisipan-R2-3]
R2 claimed that the challenge in learning English that arise from the school was insufficient facilities.
Along with the statements above, R3 stated that:
“Kurangnya fasilitas, kalau lingkungan sekolahnya sudah cukup mendukung.”
(The lack of facilities, while the school’s environment is quite supportive.) [Partisipan-R3-3]
Still the same with other statements, R3 also stated that the lack of facilities at Pesantren Hidayatullah became a challenge for students in learning English.
Next, R4 stated her statement that:
“Kurangnya fasilitas sih, kalau lingkungannya sudah mendukung.” (The lack of facilities, while the environment is already supportive.) [Partisipan-R4-3]
According to R4’s statement, the challenge in learning English that emerge from the school was the insufficient facilities.
Another statement mentioned by R5 that:
“Kurangnya fasilitas, kalau lingkungan sekolahnya sudah lumayan mendukung.”
(Not enough facilities, while the school environment is quite supportive.) [Partisipan-R5-3]
Same with the other statements, lack of facilities was a challenge that emerged from the school.
Moreover, R6 also claimed that:
“Fasilitasnya juga kurang mendukung, tapi kalo kondisi lingkungan sekolah sudah lumayan.” (The facilities are also not supportive, but the environmental condition is fine.) [Partisipan-R6-3]
From the statement mentioned by R6, the challenge in learning English that caused by the school itself was the unsupported facilities.
From the results of the interview with six students at Pesantren Hidayatullah, it can be known that the challenge in learning English that emerge from the school itself was the inadequate facilities. All the participants mentioned that there were not enough facilities that can support English Learning at Pesantren Hidayatullah. Other than that, they also stated that there was no problem with the school environment. It was quite supportive for learning English.
4.3.3.4 Unexpected Challenges Faced by the Students in Learning English
Unexpected events are bond to occur during the learning process. We can see this in the following statements. Starting from statement that mentioned by R1:
“Tantangan yang tidak terduga itu ngantuk kalau saat belajar.” (The unexpected challenge is being sleepy while studying.) [Partisipan-R1-4]
According to the above statement, being sleepy while learning was an unexpected challenge in learning English.
Along with the statement above, R2 also stated that:
“Kadang itu ngantuk dan kadang juga bosan.” (Sometimes sleepy and bored.) [Partisipan-R2-4]
R2 claimed that unexpected challenge in learning English were sometimes sleepy and feel bored.
Next, R3 stated her statement that:
“Tiba-tiba sakit perut mau ke toilet, itu kan mengganggu pelajaran.” (Sometimes having a stomach-ache and need to go to the restroom, it is interfering with the lesson.) [Partisipan-R3-4]
From the statement above, R3 said that having sudden stomach-ache that made you want to go to the restroom was an unexpected challenge that can disturb the learning process.
Then, R4 stated her statement that:
“Tiba-tiba mengantuk.” (Suddenly sleepy.) [Partisipan-R4-4]
R4 claimed that suddenly feel sleepy was an unexpected challenge in learning English.
Besides, R5 also stated that:
“Ulangan mendadak, selain itu guru tiba-tiba menyuruh membaca, kadang juga mengantuk.” (“Sudden test, besides that, teacher suddenly asked us to read, sometimes also sleepy.”) [Partisipan-R5-4]
From the statement stated by R5, there were activities that student did not expect to happen before, such as unexpected tests and suddenly being told to read. Besides that, feel sleepy was also an unexpected challenge in learning English.
Along with the other statements above, R6 mentioned that:
“Mengantuk dan bosan sih, kalau menjelaskan yang tidak mengerti itu kadang suka buat bosan.” (Drowsy and bored, if the explanation is not understandable, sometimes it becomes boring.) [Partisipan-R6-4]
Based on the statement above, R6 claimed that being sleepy and bored were the unexpected challenges in learning English. Incomprehensible explanation also caused boredom.
According to the findings of the interview with six participants about the unexpected challenges in learning English at Pesantren Hidayatullah, most of the students mentioned that being sleepy and feel bored were the unexpected challenges in learning English. The other unexpected challenges that faced by the students when learning English were having a certain illness, such as stomach-ache that required a student to go to the restroom, therefore the learning process was disrupted. In addition, there was a sudden test or another unexpected activity that students never thought would happen, it was also an unexpected challenge for students in learning English.
4.3.4 Students’ Strategies to Overcome the Challenges in Learning English at