The Perceived Influence of English Language on Islamic Identity and Value of Students Enrolled in an Islamic-Oriented Human Resource Education Programme

Abstract

In Malaysia, English has been heavily emphasized in education with the main goal of proficiency in both Malay and English for all. Like any other language, English is associated with the culture of its native speakers. Hence, it may also be perceived as the carrier of Judeo-Christian values and Western cultures. This may lead to the perception that learning English is a threat to Islamic identity and values, causing rejection. Therefore, with the increasing demand for capable English speakers in the Malaysian workplace, it is imperative to identify whether students enrolled in tertiary programmes perceive the language as influential towards their identity and values as Muslims. Hence, students enrolled in an Islamic University College under the Human Resource programme tailored to inculcate Islamic values are identified as respondents for the study. The study employed a quantitative design utilising a questionnaire developed from an analysis of past literature. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA test through SPSS were utilized to answer the research questions. Overall a mean score of 1.38 (SD=.58) was an indication that the respondents have high acceptance towards the English language. The respondents also strongly disagreed that English negatively influenced their religious identity and Islamic values. It is hoped that the findings from the study provides valuable and significant insights to English language teaching.

العوامل المؤثرة في تنمية مهارات اللغة الإنجليزية لدى الطلاب الكويتيين

“…Thus, the active introduction of content and language integrated learning into the educational process can increase the level of English proficiency among students. Unlike most studies (Hu et al, 2021;Jailani et al, 2020) that have examined the effect of integrated English teaching with specialised disciplines, studying Islamic culture and religion in conjunction with English can have a positive synergistic effect (Hypothesis 5).…”

“…moral hygiene) recommends avoiding elements that have a detrimental effect on the Muslim identity, morality, and attitude (Dashti et al, 2021). Therefore, some students use English only in class or for homework, completely eliminating the possibility of communication outside the classroom as an additional route for the development of their English skills (Dashti et al, 2021;Jailani et al, 2020). Thus, we set Hypothesis 1: Muslim communities have a collective responsibility to study foreign languages.…”

Tahfiz Students' Perception of Game-based Learning for English Language Education

“…There might be concern over students of tahfiz institution rejecting the language due its native speakers' background, values and religion. Nevertheless, a study by Jailani et al (2020), found that the respondents who enrolled in islamic-oriented education program in Malaysia still had high acceptance of the language and significantly disagreed that it had negative effects on their religious identity and islamic values.…”