The Development of An Integrated Exercise Module for Basic Arabic Language Through Mobile Learning Application: A Need Analysis

Abstract

In tandem with the development of technology, the use of multimedia in language learning is one of the best alternatives to make Arabic language learning more productive, effective and communicative. The use of multimedia applications has the potential to help students improve their mastery of the Arabic language, especially listening and speaking skills. However, teaching and learning Arabic language at UiTM are mainly focusing on the conventional methods where lecturers are utilizing textbook as the primary teaching resource. Some educators refuse to take advantage of technology in teaching because of the lack of multimedia learning materials and resources. Furthermore, the multimedia-based teaching materials that are currently available are not designed based on an appropriate instructional design approach which makes these educational materials irrelevant to the real needs of students. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify the problems and the needs of third language Arabic students at UiTM towards the development of an integrated exercise module for basic Arabic language through mobile learning application. This study is a survey based on a quantitative approach that uses a set of questionnaires as a research instrument. This questionnaire was distributed to 79 students out of 280 students who took Arabic as a third language at UiTM Shah Alam. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze this quantitative data. The findings revealed that most students agreed that learning Arabic in UiTM is only focused on the use of Arabic textbooks and the exercises provided in the books are not enough for them to master what they had learned. As a result, the students expressed the necessity of utilizing the additional multimedia learning materials in the classroom, not only to improve their Arabic language proficiency but also to perform well in tests and assignments.