Muthmainnah, Meidiana. 2024. A Descriptive Study of Vocational High School Students’ Demotivation Factors in Learning English. Sarjana’s Thesis, English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Lambung Mangkurat University, Banjarmasin. The first advisor: Prof. Dr. H. Fatchul Mu’in, M. Hum., the second advisor: Fahmi Hidayat, M. Pd.

Keywords: demotivation, demotivation factors, learning English.

Unlike motivation, demotivation might get less attention since it is seen as the negative side of the teaching and learning process. It can affect students as it slowly diminishes their motivation, especially in learning English. Several studies were conducted to investigate demotivation in English learning. However, only a few studies focused on vocational high school students, particularly in specific majors. To fill this gap, the researcher explored students' internal and external demotivation factors from one of the majors: Fashion Design.

This study was conducted in SMK Negeri 4 Banjarmasin, involving eleventh-grade students from the Fashion Design Major. A descriptive qualitative approach was applied to this study, which used questionnaires and interviews as the research instruments to collect the data. The questionnaires were used to identify students who showed demotivation characteristics. Seven students who fit the criteria were then interviewed to find the factors that influenced their demotivation in learning English.

The findings revealed that internal and external factors, such as self-confidence, self-denigration, and coursebook factors influenced students' demotivation in learning English. This study suggests future research to discover other possible demotivation factors and ways for the students to remotivate themselves.