Investigating Students’ Difficulties in Reading Section of TOEFL Test

This study investigates two main aspects: the types of difficulties students face in the TOEFL reading section and the strategies they use to overcome those difficulties. Using a qualitative descriptive design, eight undergraduate students from UIN ArRaniry were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal three main categories of difficulties: linguistic (limited vocabulary and complex sentences), cognitive (identifying main ideas and answering inference questions), and test-related (time pressure and anxiety). To address these challenges, students employed cognitive strategies (guessing from context, sentence analysis, skimming, scanning), metacognitive strategies (planning and monitoring), and test-taking strategies (answer elimination and time management). The study shows that students' difficulties and strategies are closely connected, as each difficulty tends to trigger specific strategic responses, though the effectiveness of these strategies depends on how consistently they are applied. This research contributes to understanding academic reading in test-based contexts and offers practical implications for students, lecturers, and future researchers