The Empowerment of Postgraduate Students in Arabic

The Arabic language is very critical in the study of Islamic Sciences. This paper reports i) the initiative taken by the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to enhance the competency of postgraduate students to research in Arabic; and ii) postgraduate students’ perception of a remedial Arabic course. Two remedial Arabic courses were designed based on the paradigms of learner empowerment, student-centeredness and educative assessment. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of Remedial Arabic 1 course, students enrolled in the course for semester 1/2010-2011 were asked to respond to a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that the students perceived the course as having achieved its objectives, that they had shown improvement in their Arabic reading comprehension, use of Arabic dictionaries, as well as theoretical understanding and practical application of Arabic morphology and grammar. On top of that, they also reported higher motivation, confidence and independence in reading Arabic texts and learning Arabic. The study concludes that the way the Arabic course is designed and implemented has enriched learners with a different, more effective, motivating, enabling and empowering learning experience. The researchers suggest that such approach should be expanded to the curriculum of other Arabic courses.