International students’ strategies for overcoming barriers in learning Indonesian

The number of international students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds is growing, largely due to increased global mobility, which leads to more interactions with their local counterparts in host nations. These interactions often present cultural, linguistic, and psychological barriers, particularly when it comes to adapting to new environments and engaging with different social and cultural norms. This qualitative study examines the barriers that overseas students encounter when studying Indonesian in an academic setting in Indonesia, as well as the strategies they employ to overcome these barriers. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 11 international students from Gambia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Yemen who voluntarily participated in this case study. Thematic analysis revealed that these students encounter barriers in their Indonesian language learning journey. These barriers include linguistic barriers (such as a lack of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammatical difficulties), cultural barriers (misunderstandings related to language politeness and social norms), and psychological barriers (including anxiety, frustration, and low self-efficacy) when learning the Indonesian language. To overcome these challenges, students employ diverse strategies, including interacting with native speakers, utilizing technology, engaging with the local community, seeking peer support, and practicing self-regulated learning, to enhance their language acquisition and cultural integration. The findings have both academic and practical implications for curriculum development and teacher training, helping to create more enriching learning experiences for international students studying Indonesian within a rich intercultural and applied linguistics framework.