Level of Students' Anxiety in Learning Arabic Subject

Abstract

This study aims to identify the level of students' anxiety in communicating in Arabic, the level of students' anxiety about negative evaluation, and the level of students' general anxiety in learning Arabic. This study took the form of a survey study with a total of 181 students who took the Foundation Arabic II subject (Tac 151) at UiTM Johor Branch Segamat Campus randomly selected using the Krejcie & Morgan sample selection technique. The instrument used is a Likert Scale questionnaire adapted from the measurement scale presented by Horwitz (1983), FLCAS (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale). The data were analyzed descriptively using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 26. The study results showed the level of students' anxiety in communicating in Arabic, the level of students' anxiety about negative evaluations, and the level of students' general anxiety in learning Arabic, respectively, at a medium level. The study also found that students feel very worried when they do not understand what the lecturer is saying and feel very panicky if they must speak in Arabic without any preparation. The study also found that students are apprehensive when other students have a better command of Arabic and are more fluent in Arabic than themselves. The study's findings also show that students are apprehensive about the effects of failure in Arabic class. Although students' overall concerns do not show a high level, the teaching approach still needs to be improved so that students no longer have concerns about learning Arabic.