Grammar efficacy and grammar performance: an exploratory study on Arabic learners

Previous research has clearly documented that self-efficacy in language learning positively affects students’ performance in acquiring language skills. While much research has studied grammar efficacy indirectly as part of writing efficacy, none of these focuses on Arabic language learning. Considering the impact of self-efficacy on language learning, as well as the important role of grammar in Arabic learning, this study examines the relationship between grammar efficacy and grammar performance among students learning Arabic as a foreign language in Malaysian public universities. Specifically, it intends to determine the relationship between grammar efficacy and grammar performance among Arabic learners on three aspects: Correction of grammar errors, vocalization of words, and construction of sentences. Using a newly-developed questionnaire, 140 students majoring in Arabic language from a public university in Malaysia participated in the study. The questionnaire covers three important aspects in Arabic grammar learning: Correction of grammar errors, vocalization of words, and construction of sentences. This study showed a moderate correlation between grammar efficacy and grammar performance. Efficacy of sentence construction appeared to correlate the highest among the three aspects. Teachers’ awareness on the importance of heightening students perceived confidence in accomplishing grammar tasks will eventually promote better learning among students

Grammar efficacy and grammar performance: an exploratory study on Arabic learners

Previous research has clearly documented that self-efficacy in language learning positively affects students’ performance in acquiring language skills. While much research has studied grammar efficacy indirectly as part of writing efficacy, none of these focuses on Arabic language learning. Considering the impact of self-efficacy on language learning, as well as the important role of grammar in Arabic learning, this study examines the relationship between grammar efficacy and grammar performance among students learning Arabic as a foreign language in Malaysian public universities. Specifically, it intends to determine the relationship between grammar efficacy and grammar performance among Arabic learners on three aspects: Correction of grammar errors, vocalization of words, and construction of sentences. Using a newly-developed questionnaire, this study showed a moderate correlation between grammar efficacy and grammar performance. Efficacy of sentence construction appeared to correlate the highest among the three aspects. Thus, teachers’ awareness on the importance of heightening students perceived confidence in accomplishing grammar tasks will eventually promote better learning among their students

معيار الإعلامية لدى روبرت دي بوجراند وتجلياته في آيات القرآن الكريم: دراسة دلالية = The manifestation of Robert De Beaugrande’s standard of informativity in the Quranic verses: a semantic study

يتناول هذا البحث موضوع الإعلامية التي تعْنى بمدى ما يتصف به النص من عناصر متوقعة مقابل عناصر غير متوقعة ومعلومة مقابل غير معلومة بالنسبة للمتلقين، ويقصد بالمتلقين في هذا البحث متلقو القرآن الكريم على وجه الخصوص. وبما أنّ النصوص القرآنية نصوص إلهية، فمن المتوقع أن تتميّز إعلاميته من سائر النصوص البشرية؛ ولذا، يهدف هذا البحث إلى إبراز بعض تجليات الإعلامية العامة في القرآن الكريم من خلال المحاور التالية: الآيات المتشابهة، و"اللغة الجديدة"، والحروف المقطعة، والإشارات العلمية في القرآن. وقد تمّ مناقشة هذه المحاور المختصة بالقرآن في ضوء الإطار العام لمبادئ نظرية الإعلامية، وبيان أثر هذه التجليّات الإعلامية في التلقي عند الجاهليين، والعلماء القدامى والمعاصرين. وتوصّل الباحثان إلى أنّ القرآن يحتوي على درجات مختلفة من الإعلامية، بعضها منخفض وهو المحكم من الآيات، وبعضها مرتفع وهو المتشابه من الآيات، وأن القدامى من المفسرين والعلماء قد بذلوا جهودهم في خفض إعلامية القرآن الكريم من خلال القرآن نفسه، والحديث الشريف، وأقوال الصحابة والتابعين، ومن خلال الإشارات العلمية، وكذلك أن القرآن يحمل رسالة خالدة، يتماشى مع كل عصر من العصور، يصدّق كل ما توصل إليه العلماء في العصر الحديث، وأنّ إعلاميته تفوق إعلامية النصوص البشرية لأنه علم الله فوق كل شيء. ********************************************************* This paper studies the topic of informativity which concerns about to what extent a text is expected or unexpected, known or unknown for the receivers, namely –in this paper-the receivers of the Quran. As the Quran is the word of God, we believe that the Quranic texts have distinctive features of informativity as compared to human texts. Therefore, we carry out this study to highlight some of the general manifestations of informativity of the Quran based on the following themes: Allegorical verses, “new language”, Quranic initials, and scientific signs in the Quran. These Quranic themes were discussed in the light of general framework of informativity theory. Besides that, we also discussed the effects of informativity of the Quran on pre-Islamic society traditional as well as contemporary Muslim scholars. We conclude that the Quranic texts comprise of different grades of informativity, some of them are low and it is the same as the concept of ‘clear verses’ (muhkam) and some of them are high in informativity which are equivalent to the concept of ‘allegorical verses’(mutasyabih). Muslim scholars have put their utmost efforts to downgrade the informativity of the Quran using Quranic verses itself, hadith, companion sayings as well as the scientific signs. We also conclude that the Quran brings eternal message that consistent with all time and it asserts many of the scientific findings. Overall, we could say that the informativity of the Quran goes beyond the informativity of human texts because Allah’s knowledge is beyond time and space. *********************************************************** Kajian ini membincangkan tajuk nilai maklumat (informativity) yang berkenaan dengan sejauh mana sesuatu teks itu boleh dijangka atau tidak, boleh diketahui atau tidak bagi penerima (receiver) atau pembaca yang mana dalam kajian ini merujuk kepada penerima dan pembaca teks Al-Quran. Sebagai kalam Tuhan, kita beriman bahawa teks Al-Quran mengandungi ciri-ciri informatifiti yang istimewa berbanding teks ciptaan manusia. Atas dasar itu, kami menjalankan kajian ini bagi menjelaskan sebahagian manifestasi umum bagi ciri-ciri informatifiti Al-Quran berdasarkan tema-tema berikut: 1- Ayat-ayat mutasyabihat, ‘bahasa baharu’, huruf-huruf abjad pada permulaan surah, dan petanda-petanda saintifik dalam Al-Quran. Selain itu, kami juda membincangkan tentang kesan informatifiti Al-Quran terhadap masyarakat Arab jahiliyah dan para sarjana kontemporari. Kajian merumuskan bahawa Al-Quran mengandungi pelbagai peringkat informatifiti yang mana sebahagiannya rendah sekaligus bersamaan dengan konsep ayat-ayat muhkam manakala sebahagian ayat yang lain mengandungi informatifiti yang tinggi. Ini sejajar dengan konsep ayat-ayat mutasyabihat. Para sarjana Islam telah berusaha gigih untuk merendahkan tahap informatifiti Al-Quran menggunakan ayat-ayat Al-Quran sendiri, hadith, kata-kata para sahabat dan malahan petanda-petanda saintifik yang terkandung dalam Al-Quran. Umumnya, boleh kita katakan bahawa tahap informatifiti Al-Quran melangkaui batas nilai maklumat teks manusia kerana ilmu Allah tiada batasan masa dan ruang

Translation strategy in reading comprehension among good and poor learners of non - arabic speakers

Translation is regarded as one of the strategies widely used by second or foreign language learners despite the controversy regarding the use of the mother tongue in language learning, and reading process. Good and poor language learners have both been reported to employ this strategy, though the extent of their reading comprehension varies. Based on a qualitative approach, this study investigated Arabic learners’ use of translation strategy in reading an academic Arabic text. Seven university students participated in this study. Data were collected by means of think aloud and observation. The results reveal that Arabic learners, regardless of their proficiency level, very often resort to their mother tongue in comprehending the Arabic text at different linguistic levels: words, structures and sentences. Good learners demonstrated an efficient way of using this strategy for comprehension, while poor learners failed to do so, thus, affecting their reading comprehension

Tabiat membaca dalam bahasa Arab

Reading habits of Arabic language materials among student

Arabic Language Efficacy Questionnaire (ALEQ): assessing self-efficacy and achievement

Self-efficacy has long been a focus in language learning. Perceived as one’s belief in his or her own capabilities in accomplishing a particular task, it affirms that personal behaviours, thoughts, beliefs and environmental conditions pose great impact on achievement. However, in Arabic language learning, research on self-efficacy is still at its infancy, what more of an instrument which precisely measures self-efficacy in Arabic language learning environment. Hence, this paper aims at verification of a newly-developed instrument, Arabic Language Efficacy Questionnaire (ALEQ), as well as to explore the relationship between self-efficacy and Arabic language achievement. A sample of 234 undergraduate students majoring in Arabic language was exposed to ALEQ, and a set of tests to determine their achievement in reading, writing and grammar. A principal components analysis with varimax rotation yields a 3-factor solution with satisfactory psychometric properties. The Pearson’s r correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between efficacy in reading, writing and grammar and students’ achievement. Results clearly document that the ALEQ is a multidimensional measurement of Arabic language efficacy. It is concluded that although ALEQ has broad applicability, the scale herein may have relevance to the students’ level of confidence in learning Arabic language and may be used in both research and teaching environments

The prepositions and their phonetic and semantic effect in the Quranic context: Aa applied grammatical study in the first quarter of the holy Quran

Prepositions in general are used to represent, disclose and express ideas as they are closely related to clarifying the significance of the context in all its forms. The study of their meanings is of great importance to grammarians and commentators. Therefore, the interpretation of the meaning of these prepositions need from the researcher to go deeper to reveal how to be used to give the desired meaning، and then elicit the required result and the intended purpose as well. These facts inspired the researcher to select the current study under the title (Prepositions and their verbal and moral impact in the Qur’anic context - a semantic grammatical study on the first quarter of the Holy Qur’an). This study, therefore, dealt with the verbal and moral impact of prepositions in the context of the Holy Qur’an in the selected verses that have been chosen from the first quarter, in which these prepositions were mentioned. The purpose behind choosing the first quarter of the Holy Qur’an was that because it contains the most preposition types as well as the jurisprudent perspective، doctrinal، and ethical rulings that are the basic foundations of human life. Also because of the impact it contains in clarifying the aesthetics of the context and Qur’anic expression، which thus led to enriching the moral connotations that are one of the aspects of the miracle of the Holy Qur’an. Finally, extracting the final result of those prepositions that were mentioned in the first quarter of the Holy Qur’an in terms of their usage. indications and the number of occurrence

الاتجاهات نحو القراءة باللغة العربية : دراسة في المدارس الثانوية بماليزيا (al-Ittijahat nahw al-qiraat bi-al-lughah al-'Arabiyah : dirasat fi al-madaris al-thanawiyah bi-Maliziya)

يهدف هذا البحث الى التعرف على اتجاهات طلبة المدارس الثانوية الدينية في ماليزيا نحو القراءة باللغة العربية، والكشف عن الفروق بين الذكور والإناث في اتجاهاتهم نحو القراءة، والعلاقة بين تحصيل الطلبة فب مادة اللغة العربية واتجاهاتهم، وجمعت البيانات من استبانة طورتها العالمة يماشيتات Yamashita سنة 2004، وهى تعتمد على المطونين: العاطفي، والمعرفي لقياس الاتجاهات. وأكدت النتائج على أربعة عوامل تعكس اتجاهات الطلبة وهي: القلق والمتعة والقيمة والإدراك الذاتي نحو القراءة بالعربية، وأسفرت النتائج عن اتجاهات سلبية لدى الطلبة، وعدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين الذكور والإناث في الاتجاهات نحو القراءة، ووجود علاقة موجبة بين التحصيل في اللغة العربية واتجاهات الطلبة الإيجابية نحو القراءة

الفعالية الذاتية في مهارة الاستماع لدى متعلمي اللغة العربية غير الناطقين بها

تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى قياس درجة الفعالية الذاتية لدى 87 طالبًا وطالبةً في جامعة مارا التكنولوجيا (UiTM) بسراواق، في مهارة الاستماع بالعربية. ومن أجل ذلك، صممت بنود خاصة لقياس مستوى الفعالية الذاتية مستفيداً بمقاييس الفعالية الذاتية في مهارة الاستماع بلغة ثانية. لقد تمتعت بنود المقياس بقيمة (0.769) من معامل الثبات كرونباك ألفا (Cronbach Alpha). استخدم الباحث المنهج الوصفي التحليلي لملائمة لطبيعة البحث، وبعد التأكد من صدق المقياس وثباته، أصبح للمقياس إحدى عشر فقرة أو بندا. كما استنتج الباحث من خلال التحليلات الإحصائية، أن مستوى الفعالية الذاتية لدى العينة في الاستماع بالعربية كان في المستوى المتوسط (معتدل). وأما في الجنس والتحصيل الأكاديمي، فلم يكن الفرق ذا دلالة إحصائية. ولكن، قد توصل الباحث إلى فرق ذي دلالة إحصائية في الفعالية الذاتية بين مستويات دراسية. وتمت مناقشة النتائج في بيان الأسباب التي قد تؤثر في النتيجة