Efficient measures on the readability of Arabic reading materials are important in ensuring quality text to be used. However, there are limited tools in assessing readability of Arabic reading materials. Thus, the lack of measuring tools to assess the suitability of textbooks amongst non-native speakers is a constraint which led to this study. In this regard, this paper discusses the efforts to develop a readability formula for Arabic reading materials in Malaysia. This study involved 313 samples of population from thirteen Arabic textbooks used in religious secondary schools in Malaysia. A linguistic analysis is performed as well as an inference analysis to see the strength of the relationship of each linguistic pattern with the level of readability. The findings show that the relationship between the linguistic features that is being analysed is not strong. But this finding can be used as the basic formula for improvement. This is because the textbooks that have been sampled do not have good writing features. Thus, a comprehensive effort is needed to ensure the preparation of Arabic language textbook is of good quality for non-native students.

ABSTRAKKajian kebolehbacaan teks bahasa Arab sedang berkembang di negara Arab, tetapi masih lagi pada peringkat awal di Malaysia. Kekurangan panduan untuk menilai kesesuaian buku teks dengan pembaca sasaran menjadi kekangan yang mendorong kajian ini dijalankan. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap penggunaan ciri-ciri linguistik dalam buku teks mengikut tingkatan dan hubungan antara ciri-ciri linguistik dengan tahap kebolehbacaan teks berbahasa Arab sebagai langkah awal pembangunan kaedah pengukuran kebolehbacaan teks. 315 sampel teks yang mengandungi 100 patah perkataan dipilih secara rawak daripada 105 buah buku teks tingkatan satu hingga tingkatan lima dalam Kurikulum Dini dianalisis. Kekerapan perkataan biasa dan kerap, perkataan abstrak, ayat mudah, ayat kompleks, ayat kata nama, purata panjang ayat serta kata hubung dan penanda wacana dianalisis menggunakan analisis deskriptif dan korelasi Pearson. Kajian ini menunjukkan ayat mudah berada pada tahap rendah. Ayat kompleks dan ayat kata nama berada pada tahap sederhana. Namun, tahap ayat kompleks lebih tinggi daripada ayat mudah dan mengikut urutan tingkatan melainkan ayat kata nama tidak mengikut urutan tingkatan. Perkataan biasa dan kerap berada pada tahap yang tinggi dalam semua tingkatan satu hingga lima dan mengikut urutan tingkatan, sebaliknya perkataan abstrak berada pada tahap rendah dan tidak mengikut urutan. Kata hubung dan penanda wacana pula berada pada tahap tinggi dalam teks tingkatan satu dan berada pada tahap sederhana dalam teks tingkatan dua, tiga, empat dan lima. Purata panjang ayat berada pada tahap tinggi dalam semua tingkatan. Ujian korelasi menunjukkan perkaitan negatif yang signifikan antara ayat kompleks, perkataan biasa dan kerap serta kata hubung dan penanda wacana dengan tahap kebolehbacaan teks. Purata panjang ayat menunjukkan perkaitan positif yang signifikan dengan tahap kebolehbacaan teks. Dapatan kajian ini boleh dimanfaatkan oleh kajian selanjutnya bagi mengkaji kaedah menentukan tahap kebolehbacaan teks berbahasa Arab Kurikulum Dini, berdasarkan ciri-ciri linguistik.

The dearth of studies that assess linguistic differences in Arabic textbooks is the motivation for the present study, which identified significant differences in the use of linguistic features in textbooks for different secondary school levels. The study analysed 315 samples of 100-word texts, randomly selected from 105 Arabic textbooks used at Islamic secondary schools in Malaysia. Seven linguistic features were analysed using descriptive and inferential analyses through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The analysis showed a moderate use of simple sentences, complex sentences and noun sentences. However, the use of complex sentences was higher than that of simple sentences. There were a high number of common and frequent words used, but the use of abstract words was low. Conjunctions and discourse markers were used at moderate levels. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences in the use of complex sentences, common and frequent words, conjunctions and discourse markers, and sentence length averages. The study also found that long sentences are higher in frequency in Form 3 textbooks compared to those in Forms 4 and 5 textbooks. The current study suggests that the frequency of linguistic features should correspond to students’ needs by taking into their school level, Arabic language proficiency and subject content.