How Autonomous Students Solved Their Problems in Learning English: A Case at a Special Program Class (PK) in an Indonesian High School

Abstract

This study aims to exemplify how students who have some problems in learning English try to solve their problems. The design of this research is qualitative descriptive study. The subject of the study were students who had low achievement in English who got scores under 75. The data were collected by using observation, documentation and interview. The data source used in this study were 24 students of ninth class A special program at MTS Negeri 1 Surakarta. Observation were used to analyze the English learning process. The results of the study showed the following findings. The problems faced by the students were low motivation, limited idea or opinion, low ability to understand the materials. To overcome the challenges; students listened to the motivation given by teachers, learning from various resources that were easy to understand, and participated in collaborative learning applied by teachers. It indicates that students challenges can be solved by students themselves.