Developing Shawqi Dhayf-Based Worksheets for Matn al-Ājurrūmīyah to Improve Arabic Reading Skills of Novice Learners
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.8.2.32701Keywords:
Arabic grammar instruction, Arabic reading comprehension, instructional materials development, Islamic boarding school, student worksheetsAbstract
Reading Arabic texts requires learners to connect grammatical knowledge with meaning, yet naḥw is still often taught as a body of rules to be memorised. Matn al-Ājurrūmīyah, the standard beginners’ text, offers neither exercises (tadrībāt) nor evaluation tasks, so its rules rarely reach the point of application to connected text. This study develops student worksheets for Matn al-Ājurrūmīyah grounded in Shawqi Dhayf’s simplification of naḥw, aiming to strengthen reading skills among beginner learners. The development followed the Borg and Gall procedure and was implemented with 30 first-grade students through expert validation, a small-group trial, and a single-group pre-test and post-test design analysed with descriptive statistics and a paired-samples t-test. The worksheets arrange graded syntactic exercises along a pathway from identifying grammatical elements to comprehending whole texts, positioning grammar as a means of reading rather than an end in itself. For teachers, this offers a practical way to convert rule-centred lessons into scaffolded reading practice; for material developers, it shows how a classical grammatical text can be reworked into comprehension-oriented materials. Wider adoption still depends on evidence from designs with control groups and extended follow-up.
References
Afflerbach, P., Cho, B.-Y., & Kim, J.-Y. (2015). Conceptualizing and assessing higher-order thinking in reading. Theory Into Practice, 54(3), 203–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2015.1044367
Al Lawati, Z. A. (2023). Investigating the characteristics of language test specifications and item writer guidelines, and their effect on item development: A mixed-method case study. Language Testing in Asia, 13(1), Article 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-023-00233-5
Alhawary, M. T. (2023). Teaching Arabic as a foreign language: Techniques for developing language skills and grammar. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315686677
Almsbhieen, M. M., Aljazi, S. F. F., Alhasanat, H. A. A., & Rababah, M. A. (2023). The effect of active learning strategies on developing oral reading skills in low-achieving native-speaker Arabic students. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 12(4), 384–400. https://doi.org/10.55493/5019.v12i4.4923
Arifianto, M. L. (Ed.). (2021). Evaluasi pembelajaran dan pengembangan tes interaktif bahasa Arab [Learning evaluation and development of interactive Arabic tests]. Tonggak Media. https://repository.um.ac.id/1517/
Bin Sawad, N., Law, J. M., Tibi, S., & Boese, K. (2022). Arabic metalinguistic knowledge predicts reading comprehension: A scoping review. Frontiers in Communication, 7, 984340. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.984340
Borg, W. R., & Gall, M. D. (1983). Educational research: An introduction (4th ed.). Longman.
Brimo, D., Apel, K., & Fountain, T. (2017). Examining the contributions of syntactic awareness and syntactic knowledge to reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 40(1), 57–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12050
DeVellis, R. F. (2017). Scale development: Theory and applications (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Fassberg, T. (2022). The Greek death of Sībawayhi and the origins of Arabic grammar. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 85(2), 173–193. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X22000593
al-Ghalāyīnī, M. (1903). Jāmiʿ al-durūs al-ʿarabīyah [Compendium of Arabic lessons]. Rufoof.
al-Ghufaylī, M. ʿA. (2013). Maʾākhidh al-muḥaddithīn ʿalá al-naḥw al-ʿarabī wa-āthāruhā al-naẓariyyah wa-al-taṭbīqiyyah [Objections of the modernists to Arabic grammar and their theoretical and applied implications]. Nādī al-Qaṣīm al-Adabī.
Gronlund, N. E. (1985). Measurement and evaluation in teaching (5th ed.). Macmillan.
Hansen, G. F. (2010). Word recognition in Arabic as a foreign language. The Modern Language Journal, 94(4), 567–581. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01094.x
Ibn Ājurrūm, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd al-Ṣanhājī. (1998). Matn al-Ājurrūmīyah. Dār al-Ṣamīʿī.
Ismail, U. S., Yusop, J. S. M., Atoh, N., Chulan, M., Radzi, A. H. M., & Ismail, N. (2022). Monitor model theory as a solution to overcome the problem of mastering Arabic grammar among students in Malaysia. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 12(8), 1516–1524. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1208.07
Junelsya, A., Zukhaira, & Ridha, M. R. (2026). Development of QIRAMA website-based media for teaching Arabic reading skills to eighth-grade MTs students in Batang. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 8(1), 69–96. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.8.1.29532
Kamila, A. N., Salma, Q. H., & Tsabit, U. (2024). Dawr tajribat “bandongan” al-taʿlīmīyah fī al-qudrah ʿalá tarjamat al-mubtadaʾ wa-al-khabar min wajhat naẓar ṭalabat qism taʿlīm al-lughah al-ʿarabīyah [The role of the bandongan method in translating mubtadaʾ and khabar]. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 6(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.6.2.23367
Layes, S., Gharaibeh, M., & Djeribiai, A. (2025). The role of morphological awareness and orthographic awareness in reading comprehension in Arabic: Do reading fluency and working memory count? Reading Psychology, 46(1), 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2024.2405472
Llmia, S. F., Khilmi, R. K., Setyawan, C. E., & Maskanah, M. (2023). Critical review of the 2023 tenth grade Arabic textbook for Madrasah Aliyah under Kurikulum Merdeka. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 5(2), 231–256. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.5.2.20893
Luthfi, K. M. (2020). Epistemologi naḥwu [pedagogis] modern [Modern pedagogical epistemology of naḥw]. Zahir Publishing.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2018). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. SAGE Publications.
Mohamed, S. (2023). The development of an Arabic curriculum framework based on a compilation of salient features from CEFR level descriptors. The Language Learning Journal, 51(1), 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2021.1923781
Muhyiddin. (2009). Ārāʾ al-duktūr Shawqī Ḍayf ḥawla tajdīd al-naḥw fī kitāb Tajdīd al-naḥwī [Dr. Shawqi Dhayf’s views on the renewal of naḥw in the book Tajdid al-naḥwī] [Undergraduate thesis, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta]. https://digilib.uin-suka.ac.id/id/eprint/2673/
Nisa, L. K., & Mutholib, A. (2024). Implementasi pembelajaran bahasa Arab materi qawāʿid menggunakan media visual wall chart di madrasah aliyah [Implementation of Arabic learning of qawāʿid material using wall chart visual media in madrasah aliyah]. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 6(2), 151–168. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.6.2.22325
Oktarina, Y., Inderawati, R., & Petrus, I. (2022). Developing local culture-based EFL reading materials for the 21st-century learning. Studies in English Language and Education, 9(3), 1128–1147. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v9i3.24660
Patoni, A., & Ramayulis, H. (2004). Metodologi pendidikan agama Islam [Methodology of Islamic religious education]. Kalam Mulia.
Ramadan, H. I. (2023). Al-Kafāʾah al-muʿjamīyah lil-nāṭiqīn bi-ghayr al-ʿarabīyah [Lexical competence for non-native speakers of Arabic]. Al-Muntadā al-ʿArabī al-Turkī.
Richey, R. C., & Klein, J. D. (2005). Developmental research methods: Creating knowledge from instructional design and development practice. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 16(2), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02961473
Saiegh-Haddad, E., & Schiff, R. (2025). Diglossic and orthographic features of reading comprehension in Standard Arabic: The primacy of the spoken language. Reading Research Quarterly, 60(1), e598. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.598
Sanah, S., Pamungkas, M. I., & Aulia, V. (2025). Taḥlīl muḥtawá al-kitāb al-madrasī lil-lughah al-ʿarabīyah li-ṣaff al-sābiʿ li-Ḥasan Sayf Allāh bi-madkhal mutaʿaddid al-wasāʾiṭ [Content analysis of the seventh-grade Arabic textbook by Ḥasan Sayf Allāh through a multimodal approach]. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 7(2), 231–256. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.7.2.28716
Setiadi, F. M., Ritonga, S., Zulpina, Z., & Albshkar, H. A. (2026). Mandailing local wisdom-based Arabic teaching materials for critical thinking in Islamic higher education. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 8(1), 165–194. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.8.1.30942
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Houghton Mifflin.
Shen, F., Liang, L., & Feng, Y. (2023). A study on factors influencing Chinese undergraduate EFL learners’ self-directed use of mobile English learning resources. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1189055. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1189055
Suleiman, Y. (1996). The simplification of Arabic grammar and the problematic nature of the sources. Journal of Semitic Studies, 41(1), 99–119. https://doi.org/10.1093/jss/41.1.99
Surdyanto, A., & Kurniawan, W. (2020). Developing critical reading module using integrated learning content and language approach. Studies in English Language and Education, 7(1), 154–169. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v7i1.15098
Susoy, Z., & Tanyer, S. (2019). The role of vocabulary vs. syntactic knowledge in L2 reading comprehension. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 113–130. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.543787
Wahba, K. M., Taha, Z. A., & Giolfo, M. E. B. (Eds.). (2022). Teaching and learning Arabic grammar: Theory, practice, and research. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003034209
Wanzek, J. (2014). Building word knowledge: Opportunities for direct vocabulary instruction in general education for students with reading difficulties. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 30(2), 139–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2013.789786
Zulhannan, Kesuma, G. C., Musyarrofah, U., & Andriansyah, Y. (2025). Enhancing communicative Arabic teaching: Evaluating the Al-Arabiyah Baina Yadaik model. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 15(3), 318. https://doi.org/10.36941/jesr-2025-0100
Zurqoni, Z., & Retnawati, H. (2020). Has Arabic language learning been successfully implemented? International Journal of Instruction, 13(4), 715–730. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2020.1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Upon acceptance, the author transfers to Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies the copyright of the article, including the right to publish, reproduce, and distribute it in all forms and media, including reprints and translations. The journal becomes the copyright holder of the published version.
Author rights
The transfer does not reduce the author’s rights. Authors may reuse their own article without written permission from the journal, provided the original publication in Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies is acknowledged, for:
- teaching, lectures, presentations, and conference use, including distribution of copies to participants;
- distribution to colleagues for research use;
- compilation in the author’s subsequent work;
- inclusion in a thesis or dissertation;
- reuse of sections or excerpts in other works;
- preparation of non-commercial derivative works;
- deposit in an institutional or subject repository, and posting on the author’s personal or institutional website.
The full terms are set out in the Copyright Transfer Agreement.
Accreditation
In Collaboration with 

Visitors
Article Template

