Relationship Between Arabic Language Speaking Anxiety and Motivation Among Religious Secondary School Students in Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose of the study: This study aimed at identifying the level of Arabic language speaking anxiety and its relationship to motivation among students of religious secondary schools in Malaysia.
 Methodology: This quantitative study identifies the anxiety level in speaking Arabic and its relationship with motivation. A survey was done with a selected number of 500 Arabic students out of the total population throughout Malaysia. The survey was done using questionnaires that have been adapted and modified from past studies after completing its validity and reliability process.
 Main Findings: The findings indicate that the level of Arabic speaking anxiety among secondary religious school students in Malaysia is moderately high and also shows that students’ anxiety in speaking Arabic does not have any significant relationship with their motivation. This finding illustrates that Arabic speaking anxiety is unrelated to student motivation in learning the Arabic Language.
 Applications of this study: The study can be useful for Arabic Language teachers. Students with a high anxiety level will feel anxious and avoid taking part in learning activities that will then influence the quality of learning. Hence, speaking anxiety must be tackled separately by the Arabic Language teacher from motivation since there is no significant relationship between the two variables.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: This study produced instruments to assess the level of Arabic speaking anxiety. The result of this study is consistent with previous studies, which investigated the level of anxiety in learning a foreign language and speaking anxiety must be tackled separately from motivation because it has no significant relationship with individual students’ motivation.

The Correlation between Foreign Language Anxiety and Willingness To Communicate Among Students of Arabic As A Foreign Language

“…In other words, the higher the learner's anxiety, the lower the learner's WTC. Specifically, (Ismail et al, 2020) found that the aspect of anxiety when facing oral Arabic tests attained the highest mean among students, which shows that students often undergo speaking anxiety when facing oral Arabic tests. Thus, it is important to identify the factors of test anxiety in learning a foreign language which is emphasized by Aydin et al (2020) that the anxiety test also has certain influences on the foreign language learning process and achievement.…”

“…Regarding the teaching and learning of the Arabic Language in Malaysia, although most Malaysian learners have started to learn Arabic since primary school, they still try to avoid communicating in Arabic when asked to do so during Arabic lessons. According to Ismail et al (2020), even religious secondary school students were anxious and fearful of speaking Arabic as a second language, especially when facing oral tests, because they could not organize and present their speech correctly and confidently. Studies have shown that a high level of anxiety occurs mostly related to understanding and speaking the target language (Alghali, 2016).…”

Exploring the Factors for Successful Oral Presentation and The Source of Fear

“…Dubin (1977) also agrees that continuous motivation and language training is necessary to master a foreign language. Nevertheless, Ismail et al (2020) found that Arabic speaking anxiety faced by students does not have a significant relationship with motivation. As reported by (Hashimoto, 2002;Huang, 2005;Liu, 2011), the fear experienced by the students when speaking English does not significantly relate to motivation.…”

Motivation and implementation of Islamic concept in madrasah ibtidaiyah school: Urban and rural

“…This is indicated that the spirit of religious study of students in rural areas is better. Students' motivation has a difference between urban and rural areas [26], [27]. Some influences that can influence this are students' internal and external factors.…”