Nik Hanan Mustapha

Linguistic Sources in Guessing Word Meaning in Reading Arabic Text

Guessing word meaning from context plays an important role in increasing the level of reading comprehension of second or foreign language learners. Despite various taxonomies for guessing word meanings, most of them generally fall into two categories: linguistic sources and nonlinguistic sources. This study investigates the use of second language sources within the linguistic category in guessing the meaning of words. A sample of 10 university students participated in this introspective study by performing reading tasks on selected Arabic texts. Data was then gathered through think aloud procedures and interviews. Results indicated that students utilize GJAT | DECEMBER 2012 | VOL 2 ISSUE 2 | 88 ISSN : 2232-0474 | E-ISSN : 2232-0482 www.gjat.my This journal is a member of and subscribes to the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) linguistic sources at different levels: word, sentence and discourse, with morphological knowledge is used far more often than the remaining sources. This lends support to the need for promoting the role of guessing word meaning in Arabic reading comprehension.

Grammar Efficacy and Grammar Performance: An Exploratory Study on Arabic Learners

Abstract Previous research has clearly documented that self-efficacy in language learning positively affects students′ performance in acquiring language skills. While much research has studied grammar efficacy indirectly as part of writing efficacy, none of these focuses on Arabic language learning. Considering the impact of self-efficacy on language learning, as well as the important role of grammar in Arabic learning, this study examines the relationship between grammar efficacy and grammar performance among students learning Arabic as a foreign language in Malaysian public universities. Specifically, it intends to determine the relationship between grammar efficacy and grammar performance among Arabic learners on three aspects: Correction of grammar errors, vocalization of words, and construction of sentences. Using a newly-developed questionnaire, 140 students majoring in Arabic language from a public university in Malaysia participated in the study. The questionnaire covers three important aspects in Arabic grammar learning: Correction of grammar errors, vocalization of words, and construction of sentences. This study showed a moderate correlation between grammar efficacy and grammar performance. Efficacy of sentence construction appeared to correlate the highest among the three aspects. Teachers′ awareness on the importance of heightening students perceived confidence in accomplishing grammar tasks will eventually promote better learning among students.