Enhancing Reading Skills in Classical Arabic Texts (Mahārah Qirā’ah) through Arabic Vocabulary Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68299/b9m25666Keywords:
Arabic Vocabulary Development, Mahārah Qirā’ah, Classical Arabic Texts, Reading Comprehension, Non-Native Arabic LearnersAbstract
Reading unvowelled classical Arabic texts poses persistent challenges for non-native learners, particularly in Islamic educational settings where such texts dominate the curriculum. While traditional instruction has largely emphasized grammatical mastery, growing evidence suggests that limited vocabulary knowledge constitutes a major obstacle to reading comprehension. This study investigates the effectiveness of Arabic vocabulary development in enhancing reading skills (Mahārah Qirā’ah) in classical Arabic texts. Employing a quasi-experimental design, the study compared an experimental group receiving structured, vocabulary-focused instruction with a comparison group following conventional reading instruction. Quantitative analyses revealed statistically significant improvements in reading comprehension among students in the experimental group, accompanied by large effect sizes. The findings indicate that vocabulary development functions as a primary mechanism for facilitating access to meaning in lexically dense, unvowelled texts. This study contributes to Arabic language pedagogy by empirically demonstrating that strengthening lexical competence is essential for improving classical Arabic reading proficiency among non-native learners.
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