The Use of Web 2.0 Technologies to Determine Receptive Skills among Malay Learners of Arabic Language

Abstract

The application of modern technologies in educational fields thrills with a sudden shift in using of the internet from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 in the early 21st century. In the time various technological tools and social media sites evolved for social, entertainment and educational purposes. The application of such technological tools in teaching and learning of a language is termed computer-assisted language learning. However, in Arabic language learning is not widely adopted. This study aims to determine the performance level of Malay undergraduate learners of Arabic as a foreign language at Malaysian public Islamic universities (Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, International Islamic University Malaysia and Islamic Science University of Malaysia) in reading and listening skills according to the standards of United Certification Services Limited UNICERT, using the online tool Online?. The sample of the study comprises 156 final year Malay undergraduate students that are learning Arabic as a foreign language at these very three universities (UNISZA, IIUM and USIM). The data of the study were collected through test instrument designed and marked based on TOAFL (AL-ARABIA) marking scheme deployed into ?QuizCreator Online?. The results indicated that 53.3% of the students achieved a score of less than 50% in the reading skill while 46.7% of the students achieved a score of 50% and above. The peak score attained in reading skill was 97.5%, and the lowest score was 7.5%. Furthermore, 32.3% of the students achieved a score of less than 50% in the listening skill, and 67.7% of the students achieved a score of 50% and above. The peak score attained in listening skill was 100%, and the lowest score was 5%. This result is supported by various empirical studies conducted at different levels. This study recommends the use of web 2.0 tools such as Blogs, Edmodo, Facebook and QuizCreator Online tools teaching and learning of Arabic language to Malay AFL learners.