Students' Challenges in the English Interpretation Class
ELSY ARIANTI , Reg. No. 22 301 040 10 entitled: “STUDENTS’ CHALLENGES IN THE ENGLISH INTERPRETATION CLASS ”, English Teaching Department, Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training. State Islamic University (UIN) Mahmud Yunus Batusangkar. The problem in this study was the various challenges faced by sixth-semester English Education students while performing interpretation tasks in the English Interpretation class. Although the students had attended and completed the course, not all of them were able to interpret smoothly and confidently in front of the class, and each student experienced different kinds of difficulties while interpreting spoken language directly. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and describe the challenges faced by students in the English Interpretation class by exploring their learning experiences in depth. This study employed a descriptive qualitative design. The informants consisted of seven sixth-semester students from the English Education Department at UIN Mahmud Yunus Batusangkar who had completed the English Interpretation course during the 2025/2026 academic year, participated in regular oral interpretation activities in class, and encountered challenges during those activities. Informants were selected using purposive sampling, with the final number determined based on the principle of data saturation. The researcher served as the primary instrument, supported by an in-depth interview guide and a voice recorder. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, and member checking procedures were applied to ensure data credibility. Data analysis was conducted using the Miles and Huberman interactive model, comprising the stages of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings indicated that the challenges faced by students could be categorized into three interrelated dimensions: (1) linguistic challenges, including limited vocabulary, grammatical difficulties, and listening comprehension issues; (2) cognitive challenges, involving memory limitations, difficulties with information processing speed, and issues with attention and concentration; and (3) affective challenges, comprising nervousness, lack of self-confidence, and fear of making mistakes. Limited vocabulary stood out as the most dominant linguistic challenge, while nervousness was the most common affective challenge. The findings also revealed that these challenges did not occur in isolation. Nervousness impaired students' concentration and memory, thereby hindering vocabulary retrieval, whereas limited vocabulary increased cognitive load and contributed to the fear of making errors. Therefore, the challenges students encountered in oral interpretation activities were understood as a multidimensional phenomenon in which linguistic, cognitive, and affective factors interacted to influence their interpretation performance.