Abstract
Arabic is always perceived as a language for Muslims specifically Malays in Malaysia because it is a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religion country. The main purpose of this study is to examine the non-Muslim Malaysian learners’ motivational orientations towards learning Arabic as a foreign language in the Malaysian context. A mixed method research approach was adopted in order to answer the research questions in which the instruments of the questionnaire for quantitative data and semi-structured interview were selected for qualitative data collection. The questionnaire was administered to 207 non-Muslim Malaysian learners of Arabic (NMMLAs), while the semi-structured interviews involved 20 respondents. Data from the semi-structured interviews were used to further reinforce the quantitative data collected from the questionnaires, thus providing a deeper understanding and richer representation of the NMMLAs’ orientations for learning Arabic as a foreign language. In determining the underlying orientations toward learning Arabic, the NMMLAs show three types of orientations namely instrumental, intrinsic and integrative. It appears that instrumental orientation is the strongest reason for learning Arabic as the need to fulfil the university requirement. Encouragingly, the NMMLAs show moderate motivation toward both the intrinsic and integrative orientation in learning Arabic. It is hoped that this study provides new insights and perspectives into teaching and learning of the Arabic language to non-Muslim learners in the Malaysian context as well as to offer the teaching of Arabic in a wider context. Keywords: Arabic; foreign language; motivation orientation; mixed-method; Malaysia ABSTRAK Bahasa Arab sentiasa dianggap sebagai bahasa untuk orang Islam atau lebih khusus untuk orang Melayu di Malaysia kerana ia adalah sebuah negara berbilang budaya, berbilang kaum dan agama. Objektif utama kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji orientasi motivasi pelajar Malaysia yang bukan beragama Islam yang mempelajari bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa asing dalam konteks Malaysia. Pendekatan penyelidikan menggunakan kaedah campuran digunakan bagi menjawab persoalan kajian. Instrumen kajian merangkumi soal selidik sebagai instrument pengumpulan data kuantitatif manakala temu bual separa berstruktur merupakan instrumen untuk pengumpulan data secara kualitatif. Soal selidik tersebut diedarkan kepada 207 reponden yang mempelajari bahasa Arab sebagai asing di universiti. Manakala temu bual separa berstruktur melibatkan 20 responden. Data daripada temu bual separa berstruktur telah digunakan bagi mengukuhkan lagi data kuantitatif yang diperolehi daripada soal selidik. Kaedah campuran dipilih untuk kajian ini kerana ia memberi pemahaman yang lebih mendalam kepada kajian yang dijalankan terhadap orientasi motivasi yang dipamerkan oleh responden dalam mempelajari bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa asing. Dapatan kajian mendapati responden menunjukkan tiga jenis orientasi motivasi dalam mempelajari bahasa Arab. Orientasi instrumental merupakan motivasi yang sangat kuat untuk responden mempelajari bahasa Arab iaitu sebagai memenuhi keperluan universiti. Namun, kajian juga mendapati dapatan yang menggalakkan, dimana responden juga menunjukkan motivasi sederhana terhadap orientasi intrinsik dan integratif dalam mempelajari bahasa Arab. Implikasi kajian ini diharapkan agar ianya dapat memberi perspektif baru dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa Arab kepada pelajar bukan Islam dalam konteks di Malaysia dan juga untuk konteks yang lebih luas. Kata kunci: Bahasa Arab; bahasa asing; orientasi motivasi; kaedah campuran; Malaysia
Highlights
Foreign language (FL) education is important in almost every countries in the world including Malaysia
As the study aims at reaching in-depth understanding of the non-Muslim Malaysian learners of Arabic (NMMLAs)’ motivational orientations towards learning Arabic, using a mixed methods will assist the researcher in representing the findings accurately and will enable the research questions to be examined from different perspectives
In the quotes stated below, the number 12 refers to the number of respondent, letter M refers to Male, F refers to Female, letter C refers to Chinese; I refers to Indian and B refer to Bumiputra respondent and L refers to level of Arabic language
Summary
Foreign language (FL) education is important in almost every countries in the world including Malaysia. Having proficiency in a foreign language will give the graduates who are competent in several languages an advantage in providing them access to the latest information and technology and the added advantage in terms of having more opportunities for choosing employment in the workforce where the work environment is increasingly becoming multicultural and diverse (Ainol Madziah & Isarji 2009). Due to the importance of FL in a global world and to fulfil the nation’s need to produce competent human capital, Malaysia has introduced the teaching and learning of FLs in secondary schools, colleges and almost all major public institutions of higher education in Malaysia (Ainol Madziah, Isarji & Mohamad Sahari 2007). In view of the increasing expectations for graduates to be knowledgeable about a FL, there is a need to conduct more research in this area, concerning the motivation of Malaysian students to learn a FL at institutions of higher education. Researching into students’ motivation with regard to learning a FL is important for teachers, curriculum designers, and policy makers alike
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