1 INDONESIAN EFL TEACHERS’ NEGOTIATION OF MEANING STRATEGIES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY Idhan Khalid English Education Study Graduate Program State University of Makassar, Indonesia idhanadiba@gmail.com Kisman Salija English Education Study Graduate Program State University of Makassar, Indonesia Amirullah Abduh English Education Study Graduate Program State University of Makassar, Indonesia amirullah@unm.ac.id Abstract This article explores how Indonesian EFL teachers use negotiations of meaning in teaching vocabulary. Specifically, it reveals the negotiation of meaning strategies used by the teachers in leading the students to acquire new words in the EFL classroom. It goes over the findings of a single case study conducted at a state junior high school in the district of Bone, South Sulawesi. The data leading to the findings were obtained through classroom observation. The findings disclose that the teachers employ four negotiation of meaning strategies; repetition, elaboration, simplification and comprehension check questioning. It is so obvious that the teachers’ use of the four negotiation of meaning strategies is an absolute consequence of teaching vocabulary through meaningful interactions with the students. Key Words; Negotiation of Meaning Strategies, Vocabulary, EFL Teachers Introduction Vocabulary is the “flesh” of language. Without sufficient vocabulary, one’s language will be “skinny”. This element of language is so essential since it greatly determines one’s ability to communicate his ideas in a language; the more words he knows, the more information he can share and comprehend (Schmitt, 2000). In other words, lack of vocabulary results in lack of meaningful communication. For this reason, vocabulary acquisition has always become very important agenda in language learning. brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Repository Universitas Negeri Makassar