The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 1256 Copyright © 2022 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 10, Number 2, December 2022 pp. 1256 - 1273 A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1Azizah Rasyid, 2Ratna Dewi, 3Nur Qalbi 1cicarasyid78@gmail.com, 2ratnadewi@unismuh.ac.id, 3qalbi@unismuh.ac.id 1,2,3Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar Received: 2022-06-13 Accepted: 2022-12-24 DOI: 10.24256/ideas.v10i2.3402 Abstract This research aimed at finding out the teachers’ teaching vocabularies process using Islamic songs at MTsN 2 Makassar, and the reflection of the teachers’ experiences in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song. This research employed a qualitative method focused on narrative inquiry data with 2 subjects of English teachers at MTsN 2 Makassar chosen through purposive sampling method. The data were collected by using interview and observation and it was analyzed by using Miles and Huberman theory. The results of this research revealed that the teachers had different ways in teaching vocabularies classified into four phases: 1) class preparation was based on the lesson plan they made, prepared the song, the task, additional materials, and media. One of the teachers suggested that the category of Islamic songs is not always determined by the song sung by Muslims, yet the messages can be associated with Islamic view; 2) Pre-teaching, the teachers did warming up and stimulated the students to lead to the main activity; 3) whilst teaching, the teachers did main activities by using media, proper strategies, found out the moral value, and assessed the students; and 4) post-teaching, they concluded, motivated, and gave homework. The reflection showed that inhibited factors were the students’ lack of motivation, inadequate infrastructure, unsuitable media, big number of students, got difficulty in pronouncing, classifying and stuck with unfamiliar words, lack of confidence and felt afraid of making mistakes. Moreover, similar results appeared on how they engaged the students to obtain the moral message from the songs such as thanking to God and He is always with us. Conversely, they had dissimilar reflections in evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. The researchers recommend to use Islamic song to inspire the students about part of speech, the moral message, or choose general song containing of Islamic view. Keywords: Narrative Inquiry; Vocabularies; Islamic songs http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1257 Introduction Vocabulary is essential in mastering a foreign language such as English. As one of the language components, vocabulary is necessary for language mastery (Cahyono & Widiati, 2008). Vocabulary is central to English language teaching because without sufficient vocabulary students cannot understand others or express their own ideas. Having limited vocabulary is a barrier for learners in mastering a foreign language. For example, sometimes the students want to say something but they do not know how to say it appropriately, in other words If the students have limited vocabulary, they will find difficulties in understanding English. Brown (1987: 87) states that “the larger the vocabulary size one has, the better one’s performance in all aspect of English language work will be”. The exact choice of word and appropriate word are helpful to have a good communication in language. Vocabulary is one of the language components that can affect macro skills. The teachers have to take into account that teaching English for young learners is different from adults, and have to know the characteristics of his\her learners. They moreover need to prepare good techniques and suitable material in order to gain the target of language teaching. In recent years there are many reaseachers had analyzed teaching vocabularies using audio lingual method with song. Asyiah (2017) investigated the vocabulary teaching and vocabulary learning which showed that both teacher and students have positive response on vocabulary teaching and learning and The study also confirmed that there is a significant relationship between students’ vocabulary learning strategy and their vocabulary mastery Meliana, Umaemah, and Hidayat (2018) explored teacher’s strategies in teaching vocabulary at grade tenth of SMK Sultan Agung Sumatra Barat. The study exposed that the strategies applied by the teacher to teach vocabulary includes: 1) comprehending vocabulary in details; 2) memorizing vocabulary in every meeting; 3) dictionary use; and 4) teaching vocabulary by using games. Researchers found that the most effective strategy in teaching vocabulary applied by the teacher is teaching vocabulary by using games. In addition, Naralita and Azis (2020) did a research for using islamic songs and its impact in teaching English at an Indonesian Islamic university, this study aimed to fill this void and to investigate the impacts of utilizing Islamic songs in teaching English at an Indonesian Islamic university. The major findings showed that the use of Islamic songs gave positive effects on the students’comprehension, motivation, and class atmosphere. The incorporation of the Islamic songs in the teaching of English could enrich the students’ knowledge of Islamic vocabulary. Ivan and Indah (2021) revealed that Islamic songs can be an effective way of teaching students, can encourage them to become actively involved in their Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1258 learning, and give moral message to the students. Yanti, et.al (2019) found that islamic song is a good media because it is enjoyable and relaxing to get students' interest in learning and to boost up their enthusiasm in knowing Islamic knowledge by religious understanding. From the previous studies, it can be concluded that songs can make students relax and enjoy in the classroom. However none of the previous related literatures explored the narrative inquiry of the teachers in teaching vocabulary using Islamic songs. Kridalaksana (2008) stated that vocabulary is a component of a language that maintains all of information about meaning and using word in a language. The term vocabulary refers to a list or set of words for particular language or a list of words that individual speakers of language use Hatch & Brown (1995:1). Allen (1983:4) stated that the choice in vocabulary selection and methods used in teaching vocabulary are important factors. EFL students need a process of learning in context to get the meaning of words. Nunan (1998: 118) said that the important element in acquiring second language is how to develop vocabulary. Moreover, Rosa & Eskenazi (2011: 76-80) said that the insufficient teaching materials and principles, and the confusing theories of vocabulary, which are more likely to decrease the vocabulary and study, appear to be influenced by material complexity. Addition of that, media inappropriateness, teaching attractiveness, and evaluation objectivity (Prastiyawati, 2008). In teaching vocabulary through song, Murphey (1992:9) suggested the following procedures: Listening to the song, singing, humming, whistling, tapping, and snapping fingers while listening. After that singing without listening to any recording, talking about the music, talking about the lyrics, talking about the singer/class, and talking about video clips. The next step is using songs and music to set or change an atmosphere or mood, and using music to create a social environment, form a feeling of community, dance, make friends and lovers. Afterwards, reading about the production, performance, effect, authors, producers, audiences of music and songs, using music in dreams, using music and song to make internal associations between the people, places, and times in our lives, so they become the personal soundtrack of lives. Islamic English Song IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1259 Teachers found that singing islamic song is a good media because it is enjoyable and relaxing to get students' interest in learning and to boost up their enthusiasm in knowing Islamic knowledge by religious understanding (Yanti, et.al, 2019). Video is one of Audio visual technology. Arsyad (2014) explained that audio-visual technology is the way to produce or deliver the material by using electronic and mechanical machines provide audio and visual massages. In term of moral message or value, Yeni (2017) explained “Moral” understanding comes from the Latin word mores the plural of “mos” which means “custom”. While in the Indonesian language, morals are defined as moral. Moral are closely related to commendable actions, while bad ones are called acts that are not good or immoral. Other observers also say that a moral action can be evaluated that has the potential to be good or bad.). The theoretical implication of the research for Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL) written by Wati (2022) shows that the teacher can use song as literature in teaching their students from the lyrics of the islamic songs, a teacher can convey the moral values/messages contained in the song to the students to practice. Some researchers have conducted studies related to the effectiveness of using songs in improving the students’ vocabulary. Utami (2021), Latif (2020), Rahmasari (2020) and Purnamasari (2020) found that the use of song media is more effective and has a significant effect than the use of conventional media in increasing the students’ vocabulary. Furthermore, Moto, et.al (2021) revealed that instead of the use of song, game gave a significant impact on enhancing students’ vocabulary number. English songs played an important role for vocabulary teaching and learning. Listening to English songs both makes them relax, enriches their vocabulary, and tells them how to pronounce the words correctly. From those descriptions, the researchers chose to conduct a qualitative research which was shaped by the methodology of narrative inquiry of teachers’ experiences in teaching vocabularies from Islamic songs by picking Islamic songs due to some reasons.. This study further concentrated on collecting “stories of experience” as data (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). The previous researcher who also conducted narrative inquiry research about a student-teacher’s emotions and identities in teaching practicum (Yuan and Lee, 2016) In addition, the researchers did preliminary research about the teachers’ experiences in using Islamic songs to teach vocabularies especially Harris J and Maher Zein’s songs at MTsN 2 Makassar. Therefore, the researchers would like to explore more about how they teach vocabularies using those islamic songs and their reflection after doing it. To explore the teachers’ narrative inquiry, the researchers formulated the problems as “How do the teachers teach vocabularies using Islamic song at MTsN 2 Makassar?” and “How do the teachers reflect the experiences in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song?.” Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1260 Method This research focused on the qualitative research and narrative inquiry (data) of the teachers in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song at the second semester of MTsN 2 Makassar. In this research, the researchers concentrated on the process and experiences of the teachers which took an effect. In short, it was used to know the teaching learning process in teaching vocabularies with Islamic song and their reflections about it. This research used purposive sampling technique in selecting the participants. There were English teachers of MTsN 2 Makassar who taught English vocabulary using Islamic songs, namely teacher 1 (T1) who taught in the classes VIII and IX while teacher 2 (T2) taught in the class VII. In choosing the subjects, the researcher applied purposive sampling since they taught vocabularies and used Islamic songs in teaching the lesson especially the songs of Harris J namely “Good Life” and Maher Zein’s songs such as “Insya Allah”, “Alhamdulillah”, and “Ramadhan”. To obtain the data, the researchers applied two instruments namely interview and documentation. First, the researchers did observation the teachers in the process of teaching vocabulary with Islamic songs, including how they prompted the students to grasp vocabularies, such as adjective, noun, verb, useful expressions, and how the students got the moral message from the song. And then, the researchers compared the observation with the lesson plan made by the teachers. Secondly, the researchers interviewed the teachers to get the data about the learning process of vocabulary teaching by using Islamic song. In analyzing the findings to be created as a good language, the researchers employed qualitative techniques of data analysis taken from Miles and Huberman (2014), they are data condensation, data display, drawing, and verifying conclusion. Results Teachers’ Steps in Teaching Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs Regarding the steps in teaching vocabularies, the researcher categorized it into four parts namely class preparation, pre-teaching, whilst teaching, and post teaching phases. Class Preparation IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1261 In the class preparation, the teachers did prepared the lesson plans, chose appropriate song, prepared the task, and provided the media. Both teachers prepared their lesson plans and the Islamic songs before teaching, They did different procedures and approaches in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song. Teacher 1 (T1) said “we have to arrange it in the form of the lesson plan, then we look for songs as many as possible known or commonly listened to by most students through Youtube, Spotify or other applications”. Meanwhile, Teacher 2 (T2) did the following procedures in teaching vocabularies through Islamic song. Obviously, he also referred to the lesson plan he arranged. And then, he chose the medium song which is not too fast or not too slow. After that, he asked the students to listen to the song which he expected that the song was new for them. Afterwards, the students were instructed to fill the missing lyrics. After doing the exercise, the students classified the vocabularies into some categories such as verbs, adjectives, nouns and adverb. Finally, he inquired the students to create some sentences by using the words that they have obtained from the words classification. In delivering the lesson, the teachers had some reasons in selecting the songs. T2 for example, picking Islamic song which was not too fast or too slow while T1 chose Islamic song in teaching vocabularies inasmuch as he taught in Islamic boarding school. Since all of the students were muslims and they studied at Madrasah, so teaching vocabularies by using Islamic song is considered to be very suitable. Therefore, the materials and the environment should be interrelated. Madrasah is a good environment for muslim learners. T1 commented, “There is also a song which is not an Islamic song nor sung by a Muslim singer. However, it contains elements or messages that are inherent in Islamic life.” Furthermore, the moral messages delivered in terms of the elements of ethics or Islamic teachings are associated with humanity issue and daily life. Humanity issue can be found around us. How to respect people, how to love one another in the society, and how to help and appreciate people can be found in social life. In contrast, a variety of perspectives were expressed by T2. Surprisingly, he likes Maher Zain and Harris J as well with the famous and viral kid whose name is unknown by him. He said, “If it's an Islamic song, I usually use Maher Zain's song, Harris J's song, then there's the cutest last one that's viral, that's what I usually use too. Alhamdulillah, the response from the students was extraordinary, and it had been going on for a long time.” Islamic songs seem to be urgent thing to deliver to the students as the moral messages from the song. Listening to the music can inspire people to do the things that the singer says. Besides, the moral message can be conveyed well when the students understand the meaning. As a consequence, knowing the meaning is really important. Related to it, he expressed his opinion, “…For me, it is important and need to know what it means, then the moral message Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1262 in the song must also be known by them.” To check the students’ understanding and improve their vocabulary, the teacher prepared the task before teaching. T1, for example, prepared a missing lyrics task. From the missing lyrics task, the students can guess the words, and then the teacher can add some glossary that the students have to master in a meeting. He commented, “I prepared lyrics in written form, lyrics that have been cut into pieces, randomly generated. Later they will be divided into groups to arrange the lyrics… they will check together which part is correct, looked, and the most important part is finding the message content of the song for the meaning of the empty words”. Meanwhile, T2 also prepared a missing lyric task in which the students will find out the word classifications such as verbs, adjectives, and nouns. After listening to the song, the students write them in the blank. And then the teacher helped the students to find out the correct answers on the board. In this case, he said, “… I made up what it's called missing lyric, the last thing they did after they found the words, didn't finish right away. Okay done! Match it.. after they are done, they have to classify what category they say it belongs to? This, sir, is in the adjective class, this is in the place word class, adverb… this is what is called a noun.” Generally, media plays in important role for teaching the students. T1, in example, applied the following media in teaching vocabulary. He often uses games either online or offline. The games can be modified by the teacher or it is already provided for free. T2 shared the same opinion that Youtube is great media or source to look for some videos. The teacher only types a specific words and the result will appear immediately. Furthermore, he also used Spotify to find out some songs or online music. In Spotify, the songs are always up to date. Furthermore, the songs are often sung every day. The visual media such as video that had pictures attracts the students in learning. Pre-teaching In pre-teaching, the teachers did warming-up/ ice-breaking and stimulated the students to lead to the main activity. Doing warming-up, for example, can refresh the students mind, prompt them to come to the next stage, and makes them relax. The teachers did warming up or gave brief explanation to lead the students to the song. T1 taught in different classes, class VIII and IX. For example, in class VIII he IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1263 showed the singer’s picture of” Good Life “song, and let the students guessed. In another class, T2 asked the VII class students to figure out whether they knew how to sing the song or not before starting the lesson. For instance, when he taught in class VII, he asked the students what is the singer’s name of Ramadhan song and whether they have known about the song or not. Whilst Teaching Whilst teaching, the teachers implemented the main activities, used the media for teaching, applied proper strategies, used additional material which has been prepared before, and asked the students to find out the moral message from the islamic song. T1 reported, “I introduce first who the singer of the song I teach, usually in the form of a photo or picture of the singer.” To give good impression, he sang the song “Insya Allah” by Maher Zein together with the students, and delivered the meaning of the song in general. From this song, the students learnt vocabs: feel, see, commit, repent, put, raise, pray, show (verbs); darkness, despair, mistake (noun); alone, helpless, confused, full (adjective). In another meeting, from ‘Good Life’ song the students learnt these vocabs: wear, mind, live, appreciate, care, worry, need, want (verb), mind, happiness, story, weather, life (noun), good, fun, worried, happy (adjective). He also encouraged the students to do positive things based on the message of the song. Another task given by the teacher was arranging jumbled sentences about the lyrics into good order. In fact, the students clapped hands which means that they liked the Islamic song since it is already known by them. Therefore, it is easier for them to recognize the lyrics. Meanwhile, T2 who taught in class VII chose ‘Ramadhan’ and ‘Alhamdulillah’ songs by Maher Zein. Before giving exercise, he turned on the song, and instructed the students to find out the adjectives, noun, and verbs regardless the useful expression. From ‘Ramadhan’ song, the students learned these vocabularies: feel, come, lift, wander (verb); wings, sky, soul, light, love, peace, way, time, spirit, heart (noun); high, close (adjective). While from the song ‘Alhamdulillah’ in another class, the students learnt the following vocabs: wander, put, walk, breath, take, thank, prostrate, guide (verb); praise, things, truth, door, hope (noun); far, close, proud. In teaching and learning process, the media indeed plays an important role in enhancing the students’ ability in learning English. In describing about the media, T1 explained, “…of course we have to prepare the tools that we will use later, a sound system or maybe an LCD, or speakers… we have a digital board…and I have to prepare tasks, work sheets, handouts”. Conversely, T2 argued, “My media usually uses Youtube or Spotify and online music, but mostly Youtube. Because most children are interested if there are pictures, there are visuals”. When asked about the additional materials taught, T1 described that the lessons Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1264 did not only focus on vocabularies but also the meanings, how to pronounce the words correctly, and finding out the types of words. Notwithstanding, T2 adjusted the material based on the syllabus of the seventh grade on the second semester, and they learnt about the topic determined in the lesson plan. The material related to the topic is discussed broadly. For instance, when the topic is about love, the love is not only about couple relationship but also love for Allah SWT, parents, and others. The students sometimes ask about the idioms, yet the teacher just answered at glance. To check the students’ progress during studying, T1 ask the students about their understanding related the words, the message of the song, or the moral message obtained from the song. He commented, “I ask questions according to the content of the song and the material related to the song. Students can get the moral message that if we feel lonely, feel in the dark and feel that there is no one to help don't despair because Allah is always with us. Even though when we are confused, for the wrong decisions we made repent and return to Allah, raise your hands and pray, because Allah who will find the best way.” He also expressed that what the students can get the moral message that from ”Good Life” song by Harris, J are we have to express our gratitude to Allah with a good life by doing something positive and realizing imperfections in life, not worrying about any situation so that we are always grateful, and explaining that there are things in life that money, happiness and love has no price and must be guarded. Nonetheless, T2 started with himself. He tried to understand the meaning of the words, sentences, content, and the moral message of the song. He expects that the students can practice the moral message of the song. After that, he noticed feedback from the students in line with the lyrics or words derived from the song. From Alhamdulillah song by Maher Zein, T2 told the students to always thank to God for everything in their daily life while from “Ramadhan” song by Maher Zein, the students can understand that the month of Ramadan is the month which is awaited, the month of the Qur'an that can educate the soul and nourish faith. After teaching and learning process, the students are assessed in some steps, for example in the form of worksheets, as well as other group assignments. He said, “I assessed the students by looking at the assignments given during the lesson in the form of worksheets as well as other group assignments. As educators, there are things that we must convey to students, for them to use as guidance and as views in everyday life.” On the other hand, T2 did the following steps in assessing the IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1265 students by checking out the answers together and scored. He clarified,” Usually when I make a test, which was missing lyrics or fill the blank, we will calculate it. I asked whether they answer 100% correctly, 90%, then someone answered 80%, usually I will remove the words again for the next test.” Post Teaching In closing or post teaching, the teachers checked the students’ understanding, drew conclusion, gave homework, motivation, and assessed the students’ work. T1 asked the students to find out the conclusion of the song. At the end, he gave homework and motivation. In assessing the students’ works, he collected the worksheet and checked them. Similarly, T2 asked the students about the conclusion and the message of the song. To assess the students’ tasks, he gave a test consisting of the missing lyrics or filling the blank, and then he checked and calculated the scores with the students. It was done to check the students memory associated with the songs they have listened. Reflection of the teachers’ experiences in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song Reflections of the teachers’ experiences in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song cover some aspects such as the inhibited factors in teaching and learning vocabulary, reflection of students’ progress in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song, reflection of teachers’ strength and weakness. The inhibited factors in teaching and learning vocabulary Obviously, there are some inhibited factors that should be noticed during teaching and learning process in which the teachers can evaluate. Concerns were expressed about them by T1 as what he expressed, “…the student's motivation is indeed lacking. Perhaps the cause is not really interested in English subjects. They do not think that English is important for them to master… they mostly use Indonesian or don't use English at all, even though there may be a word or two that they know in English... lack of confidence to use the vocab that has been taught, when asking or maybe when answering, so that the vocab that has been taught can be lost… it may also because there are too many students in the class, so the attention and concentration are distracted… many children usually cannot determine the type of words so that they have difficulty learning to compose a sentence or maybe tenses”. Those views are echoed by T2 who argued that the students are still glued to Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1266 familiar words and often got stuck when finding unfamiliar vocabs. He pointed out, “First, the students are still glued to familiar words… For new ones, they usually get stuck and sometimes have to open a dictionary and look for it… even they have to ask for help using google translate… like a crisis of confidence, afraid of making mistakes… it's like there is a smart level, often dominated by capable friends... Finally, students who have middle to lower abilities fall back… English is hard to write, hard to read, hard to pronounce... no motivation to learn”. Reflection of students’ progress in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song The reflection of students’ progress in teaching vocabularies using Islamic song encountered by T1. It is described in his comment, “If they understand the words or sentences of the song, then the message can be conveyed, the message in the form of values by the singer and us as teachers, can be accepted by students so that the Islamic values contained in the song can also be understood by students and applied in everyday life…after that, the most important thing here, I asked, I gave simple questions, "After listening to the song, what is the moral message or what is the moral message of the song?. Indirectly, children can produce sentences or simple sentences of the songs they have listened to”. On the other hand, T2 expressed another comment, “when I gave the sentence to the students, the values contained in it came out, so that students could understand and practice the contents of the song… usually give feedback, so for example there are some words, I ask again "what do you pay attention to from this song, what are the words, and have you ever listened to the words before?”. Reflection of teachers’ strength In terms of teachers’ strength, obviously each of them described themselves in distinctive way. T1 confirmed, “I have a pretty good voice to sing in front of students. So to teach this, I'm a little more confident because I like singing too.” Conversely, T2 likes music, and tried to reflect it with his students. In reality, the students are interested and enthusiastic. He said, “Personally, I'm a person who likes music… So when I get something like this, I try to reflect to students, teach students this Islamic song. This is amazing, the students are interested, like it and they say "Sir again sir, if possible again, what a great song, sir!". so indirectly the students want to see it later, it's on Youtube, try to find, Curious?”. Reflection of teachers’ weakness IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1267 No one is perfect. Consequently, everyone has his/her own weakness. In term of teaching vocabulary by using Islamic song. For instance, T1 got difficulty in picking the right song to teach because not many words are suitable to use for teaching. He argued, “My The weakness may only be from the selection of the right songs. because there are songs that have vocabs in them but, there are not many vocabs that we can take to teach. To overcome this weakness, I look for songs that are not Islamic songs or which means that the song does not tell about Islamic life, and is not sung by Muslim singers as long as it contains a message that is also in Islamic life.” Besides, T2 reflected himself that he still needs to learn more. Since there are monotonous or common words which are already known by the students, he tried to get some references related to the songs preferred by the students in distinctive ages. He explained, “I personally also have a lot to learn. Because there are many words whose terms may be considered monotonous. I have to look for many references, about the singers preferred by the students and suitable for all ages.” Discussion Several reports have shown that the narrative inquiry of the teachers in teaching vocabularies process using Islamic songs at MTsN 2 Makassar varied. It was revealed that the teachers had different strategies in teaching vocabularies by implementing Islamic songs. An initial objective of the project was to identify their procedures in teaching vocabularies by using Islamic song based on the lesson plan they arranged in four phases: a) Class preparation; b) pre-teaching; c) whilst teaching, and d) post teaching. In addition, the findings showed the narrative inquiry of teachers’ procedures of teaching vocabularies are different in general and specific steps. One interesting finding is commonly for teaching vocabularies, they used islamic song and missing lyrics tasks. This finding was also in line with the study conducted by Moto, et.al (2021) the use of song and game gave a significant impact to enhance the students’ vocabulary number. This also accords with the earlier observations, which showed that T1 who taught in different classes, class VIII and IX, in class VIII by using ‘Good Life’ song by Harris, J and the song “Insya Allah” by Maher Zein in class IX. Contrariwise, T2 who taught in class VII chose ‘Ramadhan’ and ‘Alhamdulillah’ songs by Maher Zein. Islamic songs seem to be urgent thing to deliver to the students as the moral messages from the song. As a consequence, knowing the meaning is really important. These results corroborate the ideas of Yanti, Retnowati, & Djamdjuri (2019) who suggested that islamic song is a good media because it is enjoyable and relaxing to get students' interest in learning and to boost up their enthusiasm in knowing Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1268 Islamic knowledge by religious understanding. One unanticipated finding was that the category of Islamic songs is not always determined by the song which is sung by muslims or talking about Islamic religion, yet T1, for example, chose the song which has a fundamental Islamic teaching in the messages which are associated with Islamic social life. This result confirms the association between Islamic song and the interpretation of general song which has implicit meaning of Islamic teaching. To illustrate, the song of non-muslim which sings about the importance of thankful, peace, humanity in which islam also shares the same idea in it. This kind of song is recommended by the interviewee since the content knowledge is still in line with Islamic view. Those views are echoed by another informant (T2) who argued that the students are still glued to familiar words and often got stuck when finding unfamiliar vocabs. The other problem was that the students lack of confidence and felt afraid of making mistakes. Certainly, in heterogeneous or mixed ability students with lower achievers, mediocre achievers, and high achievers, the students who have middle to lower abilities seem that they are left behind as the class is dominated with the high achievers. In all cases that the informants reported, the students look ignorant, lazy to learn. For them, English is a difficult lesson which is hard to write, to read, and to pronounce. It is quite challenging though for the teacher. In accordance with the present results, previous studies have demonstrated that Utami (2021), Latif (2020), Rahmasari (2020) and Purnamasari (2020) found that the use of song media is more effective and has a significant effect than the use of conventional media in increasing the students’ vocabulary. These studies further support the idea of the interviewees that the visual media such as video or pictures attracts the students in learning. The interviewee argued that using video to teach is much easier than it used to be since there are many videos can be options to download. T1 usually obtained the video resources from Youtube. It is encouraging to compare this result with Arsyad (2015) who stated that Video is one of Audio visual technology. He added that audio-visual technology is the way to produce or deliver the material by using electronic and mechanical machines provide audio and visual massages. Specifically, there are similarities and differences between the attitudes expressed by the interviewees (T1 and T2) in this study and those described by Murphey (1992:9) who suggested the following procedures: Listening to the song, IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1269 singing, humming, whistling, tapping, and snapping fingers while listening. After that s singing without listening to any recording, talking about the music, talking about the lyrics, talking about the singer/class, and talking about video clips. The next step is using songs and music to set or change an atmosphere or mood, and using music to create a social environment, form a feeling of community, dance, make friends and lovers, etc. In fact, both of the interviewees referred to lesson plan (syllabus) to determine what to do and what to use in the class. The criteria of choosing the additional material and song was a bit different, and the exercises types were different as well. Nevertheless, the interviewees did the following things in teaching vocabularies through Islamic song. T1 introduced the singer by showing the picture or photo. After that, the teacher gave the prepared scrambled lyrics. He asked the students to arrange the lyrics in a group. Afterwards, there was feedback and finally found the correct answer from the teacher. And then, the students found out the meanings and the moral messages from the song. Nonetheless, T2 did the following procedures in teaching vocabularies through Islamic song. Obviously, he referred to the lesson plan he arranged. And then, he chose the medium song which means not too fast or not too slow. After that, he asked the students to listen to the song which he expected that the song is new for them. Afterwards, the students are instructed to fill the missing lyrics, similar pronunciation. After doing the exercise, the students classified the vocabularies into some categories such as verbs, adjectives, nouns and adverb. He inquired the students to create some sentences by using the words that they have obtained from the word’s classification. Finally, he asked the students about the conclusion and the moral message of the song. Moreover, previous studies evaluated about interviewees’ procedures in teaching while the narrative inquiry of the reflection showed different results on how they evaluated the students’ progress, and the way they evaluated themselves. This outcome is contrary to that of Suryana, et.al (2021) who studied a narrative inquiry of language teachers’ perceptions and experiences in using WhatsApp during New Normal Post-Covid-19 era. Those findings differ as well from the studies presented by Yuan and Lee (2016) who explored about narrative inquiry of a student-teacher’s emotions and identities in teaching practicum. Surprisingly, it was found as the reflection that there were some inhibited factors in teaching vocabularies such as the students’ lack of motivation, felt uninterested in learning English which is not really pivotal for them. Furthermore, the infrastructure is assumed to be another problem. The unsuitable media is concerned to be another factor which discourages the students. The other issue which was encountered by T1 was that the students seldom practice their English even though the words are commonly memorized by them. As a consequence, the Azizah Rasyid, Ratna Dewi, Nur Qalbi A Narrative Inquiry of The English Teachers in Teaching English Vocabularies Using Islamic Songs at State Islamic Junior High School 1270 vocabs that they have already known gradually lost. He also reported that the big number causes of students results in ineffective class since it distracts the students’ concentration and they cannot focus well due to the crowded condition. Additional inhibited fact was that they get difficulty in classifying the words resulting in getting confused when asked to compose a sentence. Based on the results, T2 likes music, and tried to reflect it with his students. In reality, the students are interested and enthusiastic. Besides, Islamic song is quite touching emotionally that made them cry. These results corroborate the findings of a great deal of the previous work in Horn (2007) who has noted that singing in the classroom is not intended to replace valuable speaking techniques. It is an additional and enjoyable way of presenting language imaginatively. It is in agreement with those obtained by Suciati & Zarkasih (2021) who found that English songs have a role in the vocabulary learning of students. Listening to English songs not only makes them relax and enjoy but can also enrich their vocabulary and tell them how to pronounce a word in English. Referring to reflection, to check the students’ progress during studying, T1 ask the students about their understanding related the words, the message of the song, or the moral message obtained from the song. It is also expected that they get some useful words to apply in their daily life. In addition, T1 gave some queries to get feedback from the students. Meanwhile, T2 started with himself. He tried to understand the meaning of the words, sentences, content, and the moral message of the song. He expects that the students can practice the moral message of the song. After that, he noticed feedback from the students in line with the lyrics or words gotten from the song. After listening to the song, T1 asked about the moral message of it, and asked them to produce some sentences using appropriate vocabs. In terms of teachers’ strength, obviously each of them described themselves in distinctive way. T1 confirmed that he has good voice when singing. It makes him confident teaching song in the class he can sing it. Conversely, T2 likes music, and tried to reflect it with his students. In reality, the students are interested and enthusiastic. Besides, Islamic song is quite touching emotionally that made them cry. Regarding the reflection of teachers’ weakness, T1 got difficulty in picking the right song to teach because not many words are suitable to use for teaching. To overcome the problem, T1 recommended to find out the English song which has Islamic message although it is sung by non-muslim or illustrated about islamic IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 1271 teachings. The Islamic message can be implemented in daily life even for society with diversity. In contrast, T2 reflected himself that he still needs to learn more. Since there are monotonous or common words which are already known by the students, he tried to get some references related to the songs preferred by the students in distinctive ages. For example, the song of Maher Zein, their favorite singer whom they love made them download his songs and kept repeating it over and over. . Conclusion The narrative inquiry in teaching vocabulary using Islamic song and found the moral messages, both of the interviewees in preparing the class referred to lesson plan (syllabus) to determine what to do and what to use in the class, such as preparing appropriate song, the task, additional materials, and media. Moreover, in pre-teaching they did warming up and stimulated the students to lead to the main activities. Whilst teaching, they did the main activities by using media, did some tasks for example fill in the blank in missing lyric, classify some words in noun, adjective and verb, found out the moral message and assess the students work. In post-teaching they checked understanding, gave motivation, concluded, and gave home work. Referring to reflection, the inhibited factors were the students’ lack of motivation, felt uninterested in learning English, the infrastructure is assumed to be another problem, the unsuitable media, the students seldom practice their English, the students lack of confidence in expressing their ideas, big number of students, the students are still glued to familiar words, lower abilities seem left behind, the students look ignorant, and lazy to learn. In terms of teachers’ strength, a teacher felt confident in singing. Contrariwise, another teacher tried to reflect the song with his students since Islamic song is quite touching emotionally that made them cry. Regarding the reflection of teachers’ weakness, a teacher got difficulty in picking the right song to teach because not many words are suitable to use for teaching. 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