Reading Motivations and Its Relationship with The Readability of Arabic Reference Books at The Malaysian Institute of Teacher Education

Abstract

Reading motivation is usually associated with an understanding of the reading material being read. Readability, on the other hand, involves the level of difficulty or ease of a reading material according to the suitability of the reader. As Arabic is included in the category of foreign languages ​​in the context of language learning in Malaysia, issues related to the readability of Arabic reference books are often highlighted. This research intended to identify the level of reading motivation among trainee teachers of the Institute of Teacher Education (IPG) and its relationship with the readability of Arabic reference books. This quantitative study in the form of a survey adopted cloze tests and questionnaires adapted from Reading Motivation for Foreign Language Scale-Setsuko Mori to determine the level of reading motivation of trainee teachers. The study sample was a sum of 302 trainee teachers in the field of Arabic Language and Islamic Education who are studying at the Institute of Campus Teacher Education nationwide. Descriptive and inferential analysis was used to analyse the study data. The conclusions of the study confirmed that the level of reading motivation of trainee teachers was at a moderate level. Furthermore, the level of readability of trainee teachers was disappointing. The findings also recorded that there was a moderate positive relationship between the level of reading motivation and the readability of Arabic reference books (r = 0.324; p <0.05). Based on the outcomes of the study, it could be concluded that there was a moderate positive relationship between reading motivation and readability of Arabic books. This study implied that several strategies must be administered to boost the motivation to read Arabic among trainee teachers to increase the level of readability of Arabic books.