Developing Shawqi Dhayf-Based Worksheets for Matn al-Ājurrūmīyah to Improve Arabic Reading Skills of Novice Learners

Authors

  • Lailatul Zuhriyah Universitas Islam Tribakti Lirboyo Kediri, Indonesia
  • Lili Maya Dewi Universitas Islam Negeri Syekh Wasil Kediri, Indonesia
  • Ahmad Muafa Imam Shafi’i University, Mukalla, Yemen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.8.2.32701

Keywords:

Arabic grammar instruction, Arabic reading comprehension, instructional materials development, Islamic boarding school, student worksheets

Abstract

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.

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Published

2026-08-31

How to Cite

Zuhriyah, L., Dewi, L. M., & Muafa, A. (2026). Developing Shawqi Dhayf-Based Worksheets for Matn al-Ājurrūmīyah to Improve Arabic Reading Skills of Novice Learners. Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies, 8(2), 315–329. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.8.2.32701

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