The Vocabulary Learning Experience of Junior High School Students in Listening to English Language Songs

This study explores the experiences of junior high school students in learning English vocabulary through the independent activity of listening to English-language songs, and it identifies the aspects of vocabulary they perceive as most beneficial. The research addresses a gap in the limited phenomenological literature regarding how junior high school students in Mataram informally encounter, interpret, and respond to vocabulary within songs—focusing on the experience itself rather than measuring vocabulary acquisition outcomes. The novelty of this study lies in its emphasis on the students' lived experiences, self-directed learning strategies, challenges, and perceived benefits within a specific local context. A qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was employed. The participants consisted of ten junior high school students in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, selected via purposive sampling following a screening process using a Google Forms questionnaire. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documentation, then analyzed using phenomenological procedures adapted from Creswell and Poth. The findings reveal that learning vocabulary through songs is experienced as an enjoyable, gradual, and largely self-directed process, though it also involves social support when students seek assistance. Students engage by reading lyrics, looking up word meanings, replaying songs, noting down vocabulary, and mimicking the singers' pronunciation. Challenges encountered include unfamiliar vocabulary, rapid or unclear pronunciation, slang, idiomatic expressions, and discrepancies between literal translations and contextual meanings. Students respond to these challenges by replaying segments of the songs, checking lyrics, consulting additional resources, or asking others for help. Three aspects of vocabulary were perceived as beneficial: word meaning, basic pronunciation, and contextual usage. Word meaning was identified as the most beneficial aspect by nine out of the ten participants, while pronunciation was noted by two participants (one of whom also identified word meaning). Contextual usage emerged in the data but was not selected as the single most beneficial aspect. These findings represent a report of students' experiences and perceptions, rather than an objective measurement of vocabulary acquisition.