Students`, teachers` and parents` perception towards arabic language in national religious secondary schools (SMKA) in Selangor

Abstract

Issues of Arabic proficiency as a foreign language in Malaysia are never-ending and have always been the concern of policy makers and interested groups. This study aims to explore students’, teachers’ and parents’ (STP) perceptions toward Arabic Language at SMKA. The study employs a qualitatitave method, phenomenological and thematic in-perspectives. The informants of the study were three students, three teachers and three parents from three identified SMKAs in Selangor. The participants were chosen by purposive sampling procedures. A semi-structured interview questions were used to gather the data for the study. The data were analyzed and key important themes were identified. The study revealed that the success or failure of the teaching and learning Arabic depended on several key factors namely perception, attitude, motivation and language anxiety. It was found that students, teachers, parents perceived there was a lack of teaching methods in teaching Arabic. The environment at the same time is not in favor for students to improve their Arabic Language. The study also revealed that applying a good strategy in teaching and smart learning was the key to success in acquiring Arabic Language. As shown in the findings based on STPs’ perception, there was lack of teaching methods and awareness of the importance of Arabic Language in the society, which were the main factor of failure in teaching and learning Arabic Language. Suggestions were made to overcome these problems such as enhancing exposure, opportunity and support to the learners. The change of policy in studying Arabic Language must be carried out and the information about the importance of Arabic Language must be emphasized by the Ministry of Education because it is strongly related to the understanding of Qur'anic language and hadith. A suggested model based on this study, namely successful teaching and learning Arabic Language (STLA) is recommended for the success teaching and learning in Malaysia through the perceptions of STP in SMKA.