This study investigates the classroom practices of EFL teachers in teaching lexical features in reading classes. Lexical features play a crucial role in language comprehension and production, and understanding how EFL teachers approach their instruction in this domain is essential for effective language pedagogy. A descriptive qualitative design was employed to investigate how Indonesian EFL teachers enacted and mediated lexical features during reading classes, involving three secondary EFL teachers selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the teachers, classroom observation, and document analysis of textbooks. The results of the interview and classroom observation were analysed using descriptive qualitative analysis. We also employed a framework from Mayring (2023) for analysing a textbook endorsed by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture and used by the English teachers, “Bahasa Inggris”. The findings revealed that in teaching the lexical features, particularly word frequency, word association, and word concreteness in reading class, the secondary school teachers referred to the availability of lexical materials in the textbook and adjusted them with the teaching instructions proposed by Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) namely, definitional, contextual, representational, and application instruction. However, in the neighbourhood density component, the teaching practice was limited to simple words and sounds, as the textbook content did not cover phonological aspects and focused only on simple pronunciation activities for students. The implications of this research extend to curriculum development, teacher training, and the enhancement of reading skills among secondary school students.

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