Students’ perception of an Arabic language course in humanities degree programmes at the International Islamic University Malaysia

• Main Authors: Mohammad Lotfie, Maskanah, Zubir, Badri Najib, Md Ghalib, Mohd. Feham
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IDOSI Publication 2013
• Subjects: L Education (General); LG Individual institutions (Asia. Africa)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/30136/1/Maskanah_Badri_Feham_2013.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/30136/; http://idosi.org/wasj/wasj21(SLTL)13/5.pdf

This study is an investigation of students’ perception of an Arabic language course taught to humanities undergraduates at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The course, LQ 2046, is a graduation requirement taken by students after passing three lower levels of Arabic proficiency courses. The study utilised a questionnaire that was administered to students enrolled in the course. A total of 180 participants responded to 104 items on attitude towards the course, teaching techniques, teaching and learning processes, textbook as well as reading sub-skills. The students also responded to an open-ended section that sought their views and suggestions about the course. It was found that the students’ perception of the course was largely positive but they opined that a communication-based syllabus could be more beneficial for employment purposes. These findings are important in determining the future direction of the Arabic language courses for humanities students.