STUDENTS' STRATEGIES IN UNDERSTANDING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN ENGLISH SONGS

Figurative language is commonly used in songs and written well in the lyrics of songs. Since the figurative language does not translate well from language to other language, so the meaning of figurative language will not be understood unless students intentionally learn about figurative language. This research aims to explore the students’ strategies in understanding figurative language in lyrics of songs. This research implemented descriptive qualitative research design. Six students of English Language Education Department became the participants of this study. Therewith, the interview was employed to gather the data. This research was conducted at English Education Department of one of private university at Yogyakarta. The findings of this research showed that strategies that be used by students to understand lyrics of song are translating into Bahasa Indonesia, guessing the meaning through context, discussion with others to share thought, and connection between figurative language with real world.