Developing Students' Vocabulary by Using Build-a-Sentence: Students’ Perspective
Keywords:
Build-A-Sentence, Vocabulary Development, Students’ PerspectiveAbstract
Vocabulary acquisition is a fundamental pillar of language proficiency, yet learners in intensive environments often struggle to transition from rote memorization to active production. This qualitative descriptive study explores students' perspectives on the implementation of the "Build-A-Sentence" strategy at MAS Nur Asri Abadan. In this Islamic boarding school, English is mandated for daily communication. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with ten tenth-grade students and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that students perceive the strategy as a superior alternative to traditional memorization, noting that it provides "linguistic formulas" essential for daily survival in a residential setting. While the strategy fosters "cognitive joy" and personal expression, students identified grammatical complexity and tenses as significant hurdles. The study underscores that in a "living laboratory" like a boarding school, sentence-building functions not merely as a classroom exercise but as vital social currency. These insights suggest that vocabulary pedagogy in immersive settings should prioritize social-constructivist approaches and collaborative games to better align with the communal ethos of the Islamic boarding school culture.
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