Native Arabic Speakers Research Articles

Arabic pronunciation instruction

Abstract This study examined learner beliefs about Arabic pronunciation instruction and how classroom pronunciation practices affect learners’ speech comprehensibility. To this end, 10 native Arabic speakers and 16 English learners of Arabic with two different proficiency levels were recruited: novice high and intermediate, who answered questionnaires and provided samples for pre and posttests of comprehensibility. The results provided a lens through which to see the status of pronunciation instruction in Arabic language classes. The two groups of learners underlined the importance of pronunciation instruction for their learning, complained of a lack of useful pronunciation materials, and reported a desire to enhance their pronunciation accuracy. There was no change in the learners’ pronunciation on the basis of the learners’ pre- and post-test results assessing comprehensibility. Findings are discussed in relation to current research on the teaching of Arabic pronunciation to provide pedagogical implications.

Incorporating Cross-Cultural Design into the User Interface

This paper focuses on the significance of culturally tailored digital products for Arabic-speaking users, examining how cultural relevance influences user satisfaction and engagement. This research study aimed to provide guidelines for incorporating cross-cultural designs in interfaces for Arabic-speaking users. Utilizing Hofstede's cultural dimensions as a framework, the study employs A/B testing, surveys, and interviews to reveal the importance of cultural inclusivity in interface design. The finding of this research demonstrated that the ease of understanding and interaction with digital products varies for native Arabic speakers and that feature and functionality requirements differ based on users' nationality. This, in turn, highlighted the pivotal role of culturally adapted UI/UX in improving user experience, advocating for digital products that are both empathetic and inclusive. By emphasizing cultural considerations, this research contributes to the broader discourse on creating user-centric digital environments that resonate with a diverse global audience, aiming to enhance connectivity between brands and their diverse user bases.

A Comparative Study of Turn-Taking in Arabic and English Conversations: Implications for Language Learners

Early work in conversation analysis focused primarily on English conversations. During the past 20 years, conversation analysts started to investigate informal verbal interaction within communities with a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds (Sidnell, 2007). Although comparative studies have examined a wide range of languages, there seems to be no emphasis on Arabic conversations. This study aims to explore whether there are differences between informal Arabic and English conversations turn-taking system. Six participants, three native Arabic speakers and three native speakers of English, took place in this study. Data were collected through audio recording; seventeen minutes for Arabic conversations and 20 minutes for the English conversation. The study revealed that there were no major differences between Arabic and English informal conversations in terms of the turn-taking system. While English speakers used more filling words such as “mm”, “yeh”, and “so” to keep the conversation going, both Arabic and English speakers aimed to minimize the gap and overlap. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of cross-cultural interactions and offer implications for language teaching and learning.

Speaking Skills Problems Encountered By Non-Native Arabic Learners At Universities In Northeast China

Speaking skills are critical in second language acquisition. This study investigates the most common speaking skills problems among non-native Arabic learners in universities in Northeast China and the differences between speaking skills problems based on gender and academic level. A quantitative research design was adopted. It used the questionnaire to collect data. The sample of this study included 104 Chinese students who learn Arabic from two universities in Northeast China. The results indicate that the most common problems with Arabic speaking skills are a lack of vocabulary, opportunities to meet native Arabic speakers, fear of mistakes, teacher-centered classes, and the teacher using too many students’ native languages in the classroom. Besides that, the results show no statistically significant difference in Arabic speaking skills problems based on gender. However, the findings show statistically significant differences in Arabic speaking skills problems based on the academic level. The learners of the second year have more Arabic speaking skills problems than the learners of the first year, and the learners of the third year also have more Arabic speaking skills problems than the learners of the first year. According to the findings, the study suggests recommendations for Arabic learners, instructors, and policymakers in universities in non-Muslim gathering areas in Northeast China.

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of the knee and hip health-related quality of life (Mini-OAKHQOL) questionnaire in male Saudi patients with osteoarthritis: a methodological observational design.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is common in Saudi Arabia, has a significant impact on quality of life (QoL), and lacks a specific questionnaire to measure QoL. The primary objective of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Mini Osteoarthritis Knee and Hip Quality of Life (Mini-OAKHQOL) questionnaire into Arabic and to determine its psychometric properties among OA knee and/or hip patients in Saudi Arabia. A methodological observational design was conducted and followed standard guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of Mini-OAKHQOL into Saudi Arabic. Two hundred and eight primary OA knee and/or hip male participants aged between 45 and 80 years with a mean age of 58.65±13.8 years and a BMI of 29.5±1.2 kg/m2 were included and performed the stages of translation to target Arabic language (forward T1 and T2), synthesized an Arabic draft (T12), then back-translated to English (BT1 and BT2), followed by expert committee review to rectify the deficiencies leading to a prefinal stage involving a pilot test on native Arabic speakers, thereby finalized a final Arabic version. The Arabic Mini-OAKHQOL, Arabic Short Form 12 (SF12), and visual analog scale (VAS) were administered to analyze internal consistency (IC), test-retest reliability at baseline as well as one week later (up to the 10th day). The construct validity was tested using Spearman's rank correlation, and factor analysis was done to establish a five-factor fit model. Homogeneity was determined using principal component analysis (PCA). Floor and ceiling effects calculated in percentages. The Arabic Mini-OAKHQOL showed an excellent Cronbach's alpha of the overall scale (α=0.931) for its internal consistency and an excellent intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.947 for its retest reliability, with a high response rate of 93.75%. The construct validity of this scale was good with Ar-SF12 and VAS pain. A five-factor model fit was considered acceptable, and factor loading for each item found within the permissible limits confirmed the factorial validity. None of the items, dimensions, or overall scale showed either a floor or ceiling effect. The adapted and tested Arabic Mini-OAKHQOL is a reliable and valid questionnaire to measure the impact of knee and/or hip OA on quality of life in the Saudi Arabian male OA population to reduce the respondent's burden for use in clinical and prospective studies.

Arabic within culture forensic interviews: Arabic native speaking lay-observer truth and lie accuracy, confidence, and verbal cue selection.

Cross cultural differences in behavioral and verbal norms and expectations can undermine credibility, often triggering a lie bias which can result in false convictions. However, current understanding is heavily North American and Western European centric, hence how individuals from non-western cultures infer veracity is not well understood. We report novel research investigating native Arabic speakers' truth and lie judgments having observed a matched native language forensic interview with a mock person of interest. 217 observers viewed a truthful or a deceptive interview and were directed to attend to detailedness as a veracity cue or given no direction. Overall, a truth bias (66% accuracy) emerged, but observers were more accurate (79%) in the truth condition with the truthful interviewee rated as more plausible and more believable than the deceptive interviewee. However, observer accuracy dropped to just 23% when instructed to use the detailedness cue when judging veracity. Verbal veracity cues attended too were constant across veracity conditions with 'corrections' emerging as an important veracity cue. Some results deviate from the findings of research with English speaking western participants in cross- and matched-culture forensic interview contexts, but others are constant. Nonetheless, this research raises questions for research to practice in forensic contexts centred on the robustness of western centric psychological understanding for non-western within culture interviews centred on interview protocols for amplifying veracity cues and the instruction to note detailedness of verbal accounts which significantly hindered Arabic speaker's performance. Findings again highlight the challenges of pancultural assumptions for real-world practices.

Medical-Focused Computer Program for Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language for Medical Purposes

The study sets out to develop an online course for medical professionals who are not native Arabic speakers. The present study relied on a questionnaire developed by reviewing relevant theoretical literature and prior research in order to apply descriptive and analytical methods to accomplish the study's aims. The researcher sent an online questionnaire to a large number of healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, lab techs, and radiology technicians. The objective of this survey is to learn about the linguistic communication needs of healthcare workers and to find out when Arabic is useful for communicating with patients and meeting quality standards in healthcare. The study compiled a list of 36 linguistic needs pertaining to various medical settings (e.g., emergency rooms, outpatient clinics, hypnosis rooms, labs, and radiology departments), developed an electronic program to teach Arabic to non-native speakers, and made several suggestions and recommendations.

An Ecolinguistic Study of Language Teachers as Activists in Promoting Dialogue on SDGs

The present study examines the effect of EFL teachers assuming the role of activists in promoting dialogues regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among university-level students. The study aims to quantitatively assess the influence of EFL teachers who adopt an activist attitude on the knowledge, involvement, and understanding of global sustainability concerns among a particular group of first-year students at the university level. These students, ranging from 19 to 22 years old, were native Arabic speakers from Saudi Arabia. Through a quasi-experimental structure, this investigation compares the results obtained from an experimental group, which undergoes an instructional regimen that integrates SDG-focused activism, to a control group that receives traditional EFL instructions. Data collection is structured around pretest and posttest assessments. The results are anticipated to emphasize the effectiveness of incorporating ecolinguistic principles and activist teaching approaches in language education. The observations mentioned above have the potential to substantially impact the ecolinguistic study field and instructional approaches designed to cultivate a more profound comprehension and dedication to sustainability goals. This study not only emphasizes the capacity to utilize language teaching to promote awareness of sustainability among young students but also establishes a model for forthcoming investigations into the function of education in tackling global environmental and societal predicaments.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Translation, and Validation of the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles Questionnaire (VISA-A) for Use With Arabic-Speaking Patients With Achilles Tendinopathy.

The Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) questionnaire is a validated instrument for assessing symptoms of Achilles tendinopathy (AT). However, there is a need to validate the Arabic version of the VISA-A (VISA-A-AR) in Arabic-speaking patients with AT. To validate the VISA-A-AR in Arabic patients with AT and evaluate its reliability and validity. Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3. The translation and cultural adaptation of the VISA-A questionnaire into Arabic followed international guidelines. A total of 81 participants were recruited, including 45 patients diagnosed with AT and 36 healthy individuals. The AT group comprised male and female native Arabic speakers aged ≥18 years who were diagnosed with and had symptoms of AT. The inclusion criteria for the healthy group were the same, except that they must not have had AT at the time of the study or previously. The exclusion criteria were individuals with a partial or complete Achilles tendon rupture or prior Achilles tendon surgery. The internal consistency of the VISA-A-AR was assessed using the Cronbach α coefficient. Test-retest reliability was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC[3,1]). Construct validity was assessed through correlation analysis between VISA-A-AR scores and the Arabic versions of the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36-AR) and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (ANPRS). Differences in VISA-A-AR scores between patients with AT and healthy controls were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. The VISA-A-AR demonstrated a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.935) and excellent test-retest reliability (ICC[3,1] = 0.985). Significant positive correlations were observed between VISA-A-AR scores and SF-36-AR (r(43) = 0.838, P < .001), indicating good construct validity. In addition, VISA-A-AR scores showed a significant negative correlation with ANPRS (rS(43) = -0.835, P < .001). Furthermore, VISA-A-AR scores exhibited a significant difference between patients with AT (mean, 45.82 ± 16.65) and healthy controls (mean, 99.94 ± 0.33) (P < .001). The findings of this study validate the VISA-A-AR as a reliable and valid tool for assessing symptoms of AT in Arabic-speaking patients.

Invitation Strategies in Yemeni Arabic and English: A Pragmatic Contrastive Study

Abstract The present study aims to examine the politeness strategies employed by Yemeni Arabic speakers and native English speakers in the speech act of invitation. The study seeks to explore and compare how these two communities produce invitations, specifically focusing on the utilization of politeness strategies. The sample for the study consisted of 330 Arabic native speakers who were students from different departments in three public Yemeni universities, as well as 20 native speakers of English representing four English-speaking countries: the USA, Britain, Australia, and South Africa. By analyzing the performance of these two language groups in producing invitations, the study aims to gain insights into the similarities and differences in politeness strategies employed in this particular speech act. The data collected through discourse completion task questionnaire (DCT) based on Blum-Kulka (1984) with some modifications. Each of the valid responses was analyzed separately to identify the type of strategies used. The findings revealed that the Interrogative invitations, conditionally hedged invitations, and invitations using performative verbs are the most common strategies employed by the native speakers of English. In Arabic, on the other hand, the most common strategies utilized by speakers are interrogative invitations, statement of personal desire, invitations using the performative verbs, Bald on record imperative strategies, obligatory/necessity statements, conditionally hedged invitations, and expressing pleasure.

Normalization of Arabic Dialects into Modern Standard Arabic using BERT and GPT-2

We present an encoder-decored based model for normalization of Arabic dialects using both BERT and GPT-2 based models. Arabic is a language of many dialects that not only differ from the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in terms of pronunciation but also in terms of morphology, grammar and lexical choice. This diversity can be troublesome even to a native Arabic speaker let alone a computer. Several NLP tools work well for MSA and in some of the main dialects but fail to cover Arabic language as a whole. Based on our manual evaluation, our model normalizes sentences entirely correctly 46\% of the time and almost correctly 26\% of the time.

Arabic translation and cultural adaptation of Hill-Bone compliance to high blood pressure therapy scale

BackgroundAdherence to prescription medications is vital to the success of any treatment plan, especially for chronic health conditions, such as hypertension (HTN). Although there are different scales used in assessing adherence to prescription medications, most if not all, of those scales are not available in Arabic. The absence of essential assessment tools makes the appraisal of adherence to prescription medications very difficult for native Arabic speakers. Therefore, this study aimed to translate and validate the Hill-Bone Compliance to High Blood Pressure Therapy (CHBPT) scale, which is commonly used to assess adherence to antihypertensive medications, among a sample of Arabic-speaking patients with HTN. MethodsThis was a single-center cross-sectional study that took place at a university-affiliated hospital. It interviewed adult (≥18 years) patients with HTN who were visiting the primary care clinics between January and November 2020. Non-Arabic speakers, those under 18 years of age, individuals without a diagnosis of HTN, and patients without any previously filled prescription medications for HTN within the past three months were excluded. The forward–backward translation method was used after receiving permission from the originators of the questionnaire to translate their scale to Arabic. Test-retest and Cronbach alpha methods were used to assess the reliability. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to examine the construct validity. ResultsOne hundred and forty-one patients consented and participated in the study. Most of the patients were ≥ 50 years old (75 %), male (72 %), and had another chronic health condition besides HTN (99 %). The translated scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.83) and reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.9). The Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin was 0.82 indicating adequate sampling to conduct factor analysis; hence, three factors (e.g., subscales) were extracted similar to the original scale. The mean scores for appointment keeping, medication taking, and reducing sodium intake subscales, as well as for the overall scale were 5.62 ± 1.39, 33.94 ± 3.87, 9.73 ± 2.1, and 49.29 ± 5.21, respectively. ConclusionThe translated version of the Hill-Bone CHBPT scale has both good reliability and validity and will hopefully help healthcare providers assess and monitor HTN patients’ adherence to their antihypertensive medication regimens. Multicenter studies should be conducted to verify the validity and reliability of the translated questionnaire among different Arabic-speaking patient populations with HTN.

Arabic speech intelligibility: Perception of spoken Arabic by native and non-native speakers

Previous studies have shown that native language backgrounds of both talkers and listeners affect speech intelligibility. This study investigated the interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit (ISIB) that is also known as the advantage in understanding second language (L2) speech that non-native listeners have over native listeners when both groups listen to speakers with the same first language (L1). More specifically, it looked into the ISIB in relation to the Arabic language spoken by both native Arabic (NA) and English speakers. To this end, 15 NA and 15 native English (NE) subjects listened to Arabic produced by two groups of talkers (5 NA talkers and 5 NE talkers) and were asked to identify the words they heard. Results showed evidence for the interlanguage speech intelligibility for listeners (i.e. NE listeners were more accurate than NA listeners at identifying English-accented Arabic speech). However, no evidence for the ISIB for talkers was found. That is, NE listeners did not find English-accented speech more intelligible than NA speech. By examining L2 learners’ recognition of L2 consonant contrasts, the study contributes to the body of knowledge on L2 sound acquisition as well as the ISIB literature. It also provides some insight into the problem of adult L2 learners’ ability to learn novel L2 consonants.

Feasibility Study of the Boston Naming Test for the Arab Population.

Introduction The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is a widely used USneuropsychological evaluation of confrontation naming for the examination of adults and children with learning disabilities and diagnosis of communication disorders, aphasia, dementia, and acquired brain injury or dysfunction. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the practicality of the original English version of the 60-item BNT (BNT-60) on an Arab population and the need for a new adaptive Arabic version sensitive to cultural biases and to offer normative data that can serve as a reference for researchers and clinicians in the Gulf region, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Data relating to the familiarity degree of the BNT-60 were also collected. Methods This research involved 105 randomly selected and cognitively healthy college students who were native Arabic speakers recruited in Jeddah. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) was administered with a cutoff score of 26. The participants were examined for naming accuracy, naming agreement, and familiarity in using theBNT-60. The data were then analyzed and compared with the findings from studies conducted in the United States. Results The BNT-60 was administered to 105 university students from the KSA, and the results were compared with the BNT-60 booklet norms (second edition). Their average performance was noticeably below the norms established by the original test standards. Compared with the participants in the USstudies, the participants made approximately 65% more errors on the items including pretzel, wreath, beaver, harmonica, acorn, stilts, harp, hammock, knocker, pelican, muzzle, unicorn, funnel, accordion, asparagus, tripod, yoke, and trellis and 25% more errors on the items including seahorse, dart, igloo, sphinx, palette, and abacus. The item "boomerang" was not compared with the USsample because of differences in the version of the BNT, but the errors in naming this item were as frequent as those in naming the other misrecognized items. The internal consistency among the items' degrees of familiarity was also very high (α = 0.966), and a significant connection (r = 0.837, P < 0.001) was observed between object familiarity and naming accuracy. The Arabic-speaking population in the KSA and English-speaking population in the United States showed very different levels of familiarity with numerous items. Conclusion The participants' familiarity with the BNT objects varied depending on their culture and impacted their naming accuracy and overall scores on the test. Accordingly, the possibility of cultural biases should be considered when administering the BNT to the population of the KSA and the possibility of making changes so that the test better reflects the Arab culture as suggested.

Building an Annotated L1 Arabic/L2 English Bilingual Writer Corpus: The Qatari Corpus of Argumentative Writing (QCAW)

Abstract The study presents the creation of the Qatari Corpus of Argumentative Writing (QCAW) as an annotated L1 Arabic and L2 English bilingual writer corpus. It comprises 200,000 tokens of argumentative writing by Qatari university students in L1 Arabic and L2 English. The corpus includes 195 essays written by 195 students, 159 females and 36 males. The students were native Arabic speakers proficient in English as a second language. The corpus is divided into Arabic and English sections, accompanied by part-of-speech annotated files in UTF-8 encoded text format. Metadata in CSV format contains information about the students (gender, major, first and second languages) and the essays (text serial numbers, word limits, genre, writing date, time spent, and location). The current study outlines the steps for collecting and analysing the corpus, including details on essay writers, topic selection, pre-analysis text modifications, proficiency level, gender, and major ratings. Statistical analyses were applied to examine the corpus. The QCAW offers a valuable bilingual data source authored by the same students in Arabic and English, with implications for further research.

Exploring the Impact of Matching E-Training Material to Arabic Dyslexia Type on Learners’ Reading Performance, Satisfaction and Behaviour

Abstract Dyslexia is a reading difficulty that can be found everywhere, regardless of a person’s ethnicity or race. The manifestation of dyslexia depends on the structure and orthography of a language. There is a lack of research into Arabic dyslexia, particularly the benefits of adaptive learning in this area. The study presented in this paper aimed to understand the impact on learners’ reading performance, satisfaction and behaviour when matching e-training material with learner attributes. The focus is on learners with short vowel dyslexia. The study was undertaken with 22 female primary school children in Saudi Arabia, all of whom were native Arabic speakers. These children were divided into two groups: a matched group (which included learners with short vowel dyslexia) and a mismatched group (which included learners with vowel dyslexia). An e-training system ‘DysTypeTrain2’ was designed and developed to support the study. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data were collected from (i) pre- and post-test results to calculate the improvement in reading performance and (ii) learner satisfaction scores. The qualitative data were collected from observations of learners’ behaviour. It was found that the learners’ reading performance and satisfaction improved in both experimental conditions (short vowel dyslexia group and vowel dyslexia group), regardless of their Arabic dyslexia type, indicating that the system was effective and the learning process was improved. Further, the learners were happy and excited about the system.

Increasing United States College Access for Native Arabic Speakers: Applying a Simplification Intervention and Evaluating Machine and Human Translations

Increasing United States College Access for Native Arabic Speakers: Applying a Simplification Intervention and Evaluating Machine and Human Translations

Effects of Social Power and Distance on the Realization of Requests in Jordanian Bedouin Arabic

This study aims to determine the request strategies employed by Jordanian Bedouin Arabic (JBA) native speakers in their interactions in diverse social situations by examining how they realize requests in speech. The study also explores the effect of social power (high, equal, low) and social distance (familiar and unfamiliar) on the realization patterns of requests by highlighting young JBA male speakers’ linguistic choices. Data from 25 young male speakers of JBA were gathered using an Oral Discourse Completion Test (ODCT). The collected data were analyzed based on Brown’s and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory and following the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Research Project (CCSARP) request strategy coding scheme. The results showed that the participants employed various request strategies according to their occurrences in different contexts. Furthermore, it was found that there is a correlation between perceptions of (im)politeness and social power and distance controlled by the context. The results also showed that the participants employed different sequences of strategies and demonstrated different preferences for context-dependent strategies in their requests.

Perubahan Fonologi Kata Serapan Bahasa Arab dalam Bahasa Indonesia, Studi Kasus Kosakata Agama Islam pada KBBI Online

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This article is a phonological change research of Arabic loanwords in Indonesian from KBBI Online dictionary within knowledge realm of Islamic religion according to phonological changes study by Masnur Muslich. There are two problems that will be examined, that is how the phonological changes occured on the Arabic loanwords in Islamic context on KBBI, and to analyze whether native Arabic speaker can understand these loanwords when pronounced. Research materials for article are Arabic loanwords within Islamic context from KBBI Online that will be taken randomly. Research method applied to answer the problem is qualitative method, while data collection is done using document study technique. The research has shown that loanwords pronunciation changed by anaptyxis, neutralization and vocal modification. Loanwords sound usually changed by neutralization to represent the sound of Arabic word that doesn’t have any sound representation in Indonesian and vocal modification to shorten the Arabic vocal pronunciation so native Arabic speakers won’t understand sound of these words.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Keywords– &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Arabic, Indonesian, Loanwords, Phonology. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Ta’lim al-Qira’ah li al-Nathiqin bi Ghair al-‘Arabiyyah bi al-Nushush al-Ashliyyah al-Muhtawiyah ‘Ala al-Tsaqafah al-‘Arabiyyah

This study aimed to propose strategies of how to teach Arabic reading comprehension by using materials taken from authentic sources. It employed a method that combined library research and field research. Library research was executed by searching authentic reading texts that were contextual and relevant with students’ needs, obtained from references, magazines, newspapers, and radio programs. All of which were written in by Arabic native speakers for Arabic native speakers. Field research was conducted by teaching Arabic reading comprehension using authentic materials in in the classroom. Implementing this method, it was found that teaching Arabic reading comprehension using authentic materials should be carried out in three stages: (i) pre-reading stage, conducted by facilitating students to understand the importance of authentic materials and negotiating the topics that the students were interested in; (ii) reading stage, in which students read and grasp texts through dialogues and group discussion guided by the teacher; and (iii) post-reading, in a way that the students did exercises by answering questions to sharpen their understanding about text contents. This practice of teaching Arabic reading provided such benefits as students were more motivated to study and more exposed to Arabic sentences having more complex and natural structures that were rarely found in simplified texts. Teacher’s guidance at each stage of learning was proven to be able to assist students in understanding the complex sentences. The significant contribution of this study is to overcome the weaknesses of using authentic materials as many studies have reported that authentic materials are frequently too difficult since they are beyond leaners’ language proficiencies. In addition, this research clearly confirms the theory of the importance of authentic materials in teaching a foreign language reading.