Investigating Book Club Members’ Figurative Language Learning Through “The Odyssey

Aminullah, Nabil (2026) Investigating Book Club Members’ Figurative Language Learning Through “The Odyssey. Undergraduate Thesis thesis, UIN K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid Pekalongan.

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Abstract

Bahasa figuratif memainkan peran penting dalam teks sastra karena memungkinkan penulis menyampaikan makna, emosi, dan pengalaman yang melampaui ungkapan harfiah. Namun, memahami bahasa figuratif masih menjadi tantangan bagi banyak pembelajar bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing (EFL) karena sulitnya menafsirkan makna non-harfiah. Diskusi sastra kolaboratif dapat memberi pembelajar kesempatan untuk mengembangkan pemahaman mereka melalui interaksi dan penafsiran bersama. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengkaji bagaimana anggota klub buku mempelajari bahasa figuratif melalui diskusi The Odyssey serta tantangan yang mereka hadapi. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain studi kasus kualitatif dengan konstruktivisme sosial Vygotsky sebagai lensa teoretis. Data dikumpulkan dari satu sesi diskusi klub buku melalui observasi, dokumentasi, dan wawancara semi-terstruktur dengan lima partisipan yang dipilih secara purposif, yaitu tiga anggota, moderator, dan pemantik diskusi. Data dianalisis dengan prosedur analisis spiral Creswell dan Poth (2018), dan keabsahannya diperiksa melalui triangulasi data. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa anggota mempelajari bahasa figuratif melalui interaksi yang bergerak dari teks ke kelompok. The Odyssey dan alat bantu lain, seperti cetakan dengan catatan kaki, Google Translate, slide, dan teman di sebelahnya, berfungsi sebagai medium. Kegiatan membaca hening dan diskusi menempatkan anggota pada zona perkembangan proksimal (ZPD), sehingga makna yang tidak terjangkau sendiri menjadi dapat ditafsirkan. Moderator dan pemantik diskusi memberikan scaffolding berupa informasi latar, perbandingan sehari-hari, parafrasa, dan pertanyaan. Tiga tantangan ditemukan: kesulitan mengenali dan menafsirkan makna non-harfiah, jarak linguistik dan budaya antara anggota dan teks, serta dukungan dan partisipasi yang tidak merata. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa klub buku dapat menjadi ruang belajar bahasa figuratif yang efektif ketika teks didampingi alat bantu yang sesuai dan dukungan disesuaikan dengan kemampuan anggota, meskipun pembelajarannya belum merata bagi semua anggota.   ABSTRACT Nabil Aminullah (2026). Investigating Book Club Members’ Figurative Language Learning Through “The Odyssey”. Undergraduate Thesis. English Education Department. FTIK UIN K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid Pekalongan. Supervisor: Nadia Faradhillah, M.A. Keywords: figurative language learning, book club, The Odyssey, literary discussion. Figurative language plays an important role in literary texts because it enables authors to convey meanings, emotions, and experiences beyond literal expressions. However, understanding figurative language remains challenging for many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners due to the complexity of interpreting non-literal meanings. Collaborative literary discussions may give learners opportunities to develop their understanding through interaction and shared interpretation. This study investigated how book club members learn figurative language through discussions of The Odyssey and what challenges they encounter. It employed a qualitative case study design with Vygotsky’s social constructivism as the theoretical lens. Data were collected from one book club discussion session through observation, documentation, and semi-structured interviews with five purposively selected participants: three members, the moderator, and the discussion starter. The data were analyzed using Creswell and Poth’s (2018) spiral procedure, and trustworthiness was established through data triangulation. The findings show that members learned figurative language through interaction that moved from the text to the group. The Odyssey and other tools, namely the printout with footnotes, Google Translate, the starter’s slides, and fellow members, served as mediums. Silent reading followed by discussion placed members within their zone of proximal development (ZPD), where meanings they could not reach alone became interpretable. The moderator and the starter provided scaffolding through background information, everyday comparisons, paraphrase, and questions. Three challenges emerged: recognizing and interpreting non-literal meaning, linguistic and cultural distance from the text, and uneven support and participation. The study concludes that a book club can be an effective space for learning figurative language when the text is surrounded by suitable mediating tools and support is adjusted to members’ levels, although the learning was not equal for everyone.

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