Date of Award

2010

Thesis Type

PhD

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Education

Department

Department of Language and Literacy Education

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

High Level Arabic Textbook is a primary learning resource in learning Arabic atthe upper secondary level in Islamic religious schools. One of the factors related to the students’ lack of mastery in Arabic is due to the ineffectiveness of the textbook. In evaluating textbook, one of the criteria is the readability factor, namely the level of difficulty and suitability of the textbook for the target group. Since research on the readability of Arabic materials in Malaysia is limited, this study aims to fill that gap. This research aims to (1) identify the readability of school secondary level textbook in the aspect of linguistics in reading texts, and the presentation of technical textbook, (2) identify the level of students’ motivation towards High Level Arabic Textbook, (3) evaluate the readability of form four High Level Arabic Textbook, (4) identify the relationship between students’ level of motivation, language achievement, and background knowledge of topics covered in the reading materials with the readability of High Level Arabic Textbook. In order to achieve the research objectives, the research design employed is descriptive, namely through survey and document analysis (linguistics characteristics of Form 4 High Level Arabic textbook). The following instruments were employed: (a) one set of cloze test procedure, (b) readability evaluation checklist, (c) an analysis form of the text linguistics content, and (d) a set of questionnaire, which has undergone the process of establishing its reliability and validity. The sample involved 3 of 15 High Level Arabic reading texts, 397 of 5442 Form 4 students at Islamic religious schools, and 83 of the 98 teachers teaching High Level Arabic. The research involved 27 of 39 Islamic religious schools in Peninsula Malaysia. The data was collected and analysed namely by two means; a descriptive analysis in the form of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and also inference in order to explain the relationship or correlation between variables and readability score at a level of r=0.30 (Healy et. al. 1997) and significant level p < 0.05. The findings revealed the linguistic characteristics such as the use of complex sentence, nominal compound sentence, verbal compound sentence, verbal sentence and content density that potentially contribute to the readability of 15 reading texts of High Level Arabic Textbook. The correlation matrix shows there is a correlation between complex sentences, that is sentences consisting of simple sentences, and the density of its content. Another aspect generally showed the presentation of High level Arabic textbooks’ score is moderate (mean = 3.44), the students’ motivation scored quite high (mean = 3.70) and the readability of high level Arabic textbook was disappointing (49%), that is they were found to be unsuitable and difficult to be used as a teaching material and reading resource for target students. The correlation level between variables shows there was no significant relationship between the readability variables and readability level, where the value p > 0.05. Based on the findings and past research, it may be concluded the main influence of readability of High Level Arabic Textbook for Form 4 in Islamic Religious Secondary Schools is the level of knowledge and students’ lack of proficiency in Arabic. The findings of the research will help refine the linguistic characteristics of the text, the technical presentation of textbooks in Arabic as a foreign language, as well as be a basis for the development of readability formula especially textbooks produced by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.

Initial

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Additional Information

Thesis (PhD) – Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, 2010.

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