language skills

Assessment in Arabic language learning as a foreign language (Arabic as a Foreign Language) is currently undergoing a significant paradigm shift. This transformation is influenced by the development of digital technology, the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Indonesia, which emphasizes flexibility, differentiation, and learning personalization. This article presents a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) aimed at identifying, examining, and synthesizing developments, innovations, methodological approaches, and various challenges in the assessment of the four Arabic language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing, during the period from 2020 to early 2026. The review employed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol to identify and analyze relevant literature. The findings indicate a shift from conventional evaluation systems based on discrete tests toward the implementation of Technology-Enhanced Assessment (TEA) and more authentic forms of assessment. The literature synthesis reveals several key findings. First, diagnostic assessment, encompassing both cognitive and non-cognitive aspects, plays an important role in designing differentiated learning within the framework of the Merdeka Curriculum. Second, the development of assessment instruments for Arabic language maharah is increasingly oriented toward measuring higher-order thinking skills (Higher Order Thinking Skills/HOTS). Third, the utilization of Generative AI, including ChatGPT, as well as various gamification-based learning platforms, has introduced new approaches to providing faster, more adaptive, and interactive feedback. Based on the synthesis, the effectiveness of modern assessment is not determined solely by the sophistication of the technology employed, but also by the alignment between technology and pedagogical objectives, the transparency of assessment procedures, and its ability to comprehensively represent learners' communicative competence while maintaining the principles of academic integrity.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a project-based learning strategy utilizing digital platforms in developing the analytical writing skills of female secondary school students. The study employed a quasi-experimental approach, with a sample consisting of 60 eleventh-grade students from Al-Nuzha Secondary Mixed School, under the Qwaismeh Directorate. The participants were divided equally into two groups: an experimental group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). Data were gathered by administering a pre- and post-test of analytical writing to the study sample.The results revealed statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group in the pre- and post-assessments of the analytical writing test, favoring the post-test with a mean value of 32.23. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were observed at the significance level (α = 0.05) among the students’ mean scores across the specific dimensions of analytical writing (text introduction, text body, text conclusion, and text coherence). Notably, highly significant differences were detected at the significance level (p = 0.000) in the post-assessment of both the "text body" and "text coherence" dimensions. Based on these findings, the study recommends developing specialized educational digital platforms for the Ministry of Education and integrating them with school textbooks, while emphasizing the necessity of training teachers to effectively utilize and implement these platforms in the educational process, particularly for teaching language. skills.

The purpose of this study is to determine pre-service early childhood teachers’ views and perceived competency levels regarding neurolinguistic-based science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) applications in phonemic skills instruction, and to examine whether these perceptions differ significantly according to demographic (gender, age, and grade level) and professional/experiential (having received phonemic awareness training, STEAM experience, and familiarity with the concept of neurolinguistic programming [NLP]) variables. Adopting a descriptive survey design, one of the quantitative research methods, the study group consisted of 179 pre-service teachers enrolled in an early childhood education undergraduate program at one university in Kazakhstan. The research data were collected through a demographic information form, a structured views questionnaire, and a data collection tool measuring pre-service teachers’ perceived competency. The findings show that participants’ overall perceived competency was high. However, 36.9% of participants regarded phonemic awareness as a naturally developing process and 31.3% viewed STEAM as unrelated to language skills, which may indicate conceptual gaps; and although 41.9% stated that the art component made phoneme discrimination more concrete, 53.6% considered art either unrelated to phonemic awareness or merely entertaining. Perceived competency did not differ significantly by gender or age, whereas third-year pre-service teachers reported lower perceived competency than first- and second-year students; a “reality shock” after practicum is a possible but untested explanation, as practicum was not measured. In addition, pre-service teachers who had previously received phonemic awareness training, who had STEAM experience, and who were familiar with the concept of NLP reported significantly higher perceived competency. The findings suggest that teacher educators may consider adding applied, STEAM-integrated phonemic awareness modules supported by microteaching, including a critical examination of the evidence on NLP and learning-styles claims. The findings are limited by self-report data and a single-university convenience sample.

Background and objectives Health literacy in adulthood plays a major role in an individual’s ability to use health information to benefit their health. Social determinants in early childhood initiate the development of health literacy through newborn brain development and oral language acquisition. Both of these processes are promoted by stimulation from everyday interactions with parents/caregivers at home and in the community. Unequal access to language-learning opportunities during early childhood represents a modifiable developmental and social determinant of later educational and health outcomes. There are inequities in these time-sensitive interactions—specifically language-learning opportunities—across families in the population, which are social determinants of early literacy, achievement in school, and later-life education, health, and economic and social well-being across the life span. This gap is most pronounced among children who grow up in poverty in the United States and internationally. The healthcare system in the United States effectively reaches to nearly all infants; however, language-learning opportunities are not a focus during well-child visits. The term “Language Nutrition” (LN) was coined in prior research to refer to these developmentally rich interactions known to support brain and language growth in children younger than preschool age. We developed Kansas City Brain Builders (KCBB) to address this inequity by promoting LN broadly among families and children in a community so that all children have a more equitable home language environment. The purpose of this study is to report longitudinal empirical findings on families and children related to the implementation of KCBB, a public health approach to community change, over 2 years. Methods The evaluation involved two parallel longitudinal studies: the Community study and the Family study. The Community study assessed the implementation of a KCBB multisectoral community partnership to promote LN-friendly changes in local programs, practices, and policies. The Family study involved longitudinal assessments of a sample of 83 English- and Spanish-speaking families with children younger than 36 months of age, evaluating the KCBB impacts on parental behaviors and child growth in language skills. Results KCBB led to a high level of documented program implementation and substantial LN promotion throughout the community. Repeated parent assessments indicated that participants had received LN messages from multiple community sectors over time, increased their knowledge of the importance of LN, and used LN through storybook reading, verbal responsiveness, and teaching behaviors during interactions with their children. Growth in children’s early language skills was significantly associated with the amount of LN they received. Discussion/Conclusion KCBB is one of the few multisectoral interventions designed to promote community-wide change targeting LN. It is a manualized intervention that can be replicated by other communities. This study employed three levels of measurement such that change could be evaluated in a theoretical framework of influence from community engagement to parental behavior and growth in child language skills. Findings provide preliminary evidence that a multisectoral community approach can achieve broad reach and is associated with changes in caregiver practices and child language growth. Larger, controlled, and replicated studies are needed to establish causal effects and determine whether such approaches reduce disparities in language-learning opportunities.

The 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes caused widespread devastation across 11 provinces in southeastern Türkiye, resulting in profound psychosocial consequences for children, including increased emotional avoidance and difficulties in self-expression. This study aimed to examine changes in psychological flexibility and language-related outcomes (listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing) associated with participation in a bibliotherapy-based intervention among children affected by the earthquakes. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design. Participants were middle school students residing in the earthquake-affected region. The experimental group participated in a 12-week multicomponent ACT-based bibliotherapy program, whereas the control group continued with the regular educational curriculum. The intervention was structured around Russ Harris’s The Reality Slap and incorporated guided reading, metaphor-based activities, mindfulness practices, reflective writing, and group discussions. Each session involved structured reading of designated chapters and page ranges aligned with the thematic focus and targeted ACT processes. Psychological flexibility and four language-related outcomes-listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing-were assessed at pretest and posttest. Significant differential changes were observed for psychological flexibility and reading comprehension. For listening, the primary Time × Group interaction reached the conventional 0.05 significance level but did not remain statistically significant after Bonferroni correction, whereas the baseline-adjusted ANCOVA showed a statistically significant between-group difference ( p = 0.008). Thus, the findings for listening were not consistent across analytical approaches and were interpreted cautiously. The Time × Group interactions for speaking and writing were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that participation in the multicomponent ACT-based bibliotherapy program was associated with improvements in psychological flexibility and reading comprehension among earthquake-affected adolescents. Evidence for listening skills was less consistent across analytical approaches and should therefore be interpreted cautiously. Given the quasi-experimental design, nonrandom allocation, and absence of an attention-matched active control condition, these findings should not be interpreted as definitive causal effects attributable exclusively to bibliotherapy.

زلزله‌های ۶ فوریه ۲۰۲۳ قهرمان‌مرعش موجب ویرانی گسترده در ۱۱ استان جنوب‌شرقی ترکیه شد و پیامدهای روانی-اجتماعی عمیقی برای کودکان به همراه داشت، از جمله افزایش اجتناب هیجانی و دشواری در ابراز خود. هدف این پژوهش بررسی تغییرات در انعطاف‌پذیری روان‌شناختی و پیامدهای مرتبط با زبان (شنیدن، صحبت کردن، درک مطلب و نوشتن) در پی شرکت در یک مداخله مبتنی بر کتاب‌درمانی در میان کودکان آسیب‌دیده از زلزله بود. این مطالعه با طرح شبه‌آزمایشی پیش‌آزمون–پس‌آزمون با گروه کنترل انجام شد. شرکت‌کنندگان دانش‌آموزان مقطع متوسطه ساکن منطقه آسیب‌دیده از زلزله بودند. گروه آزمایش در یک برنامه کتاب‌درمانی چندمولفه‌ای مبتنی بر ACT به مدت ۱۲ هفته شرکت کردند، در حالی که گروه کنترل به برنامه آموزشی عادی خود ادامه دادند. مداخله بر اساس کتاب The Reality Slap اثر Russ Harris ساختاربندی شد و شامل مطالعه هدایت‌شده، فعالیت‌های مبتنی بر استعاره، تمرین‌های ذهن‌آگاهی، نوشتن تأملی و بحث‌های گروهی بود. هر جلسه شامل مطالعه ساختاریافته فصل‌ها و صفحات تعیین‌شده متناسب با محور موضوعی و فرایندهای هدف ACT بود. انعطاف‌پذیری روان‌شناختی و چهار پیامد مرتبط با زبان—شنیدن، صحبت کردن، درک مطلب و نوشتن—در پیش‌آزمون و پس‌آزمون ارزیابی شدند. تغییرات افتراقی معناداری برای انعطاف‌پذیری روان‌شناختی و درک مطلب مشاهده شد. برای شنیدن، تعامل اصلی زمان × گروه به سطح معناداری متعارف ۰٫۰۵ رسید اما پس از اصلاح بونفرونی از نظر آماری معنادار باقی نماند، در حالی که ANCOVA با تعدیل خط پایه تفاوت معنادار بین‌گروهی را نشان داد (p = 0.008). بنابراین، یافته‌های مربوط به شنیدن در رویکردهای تحلیلی مختلف یکسان نبود و با احتیاط تفسیر شد. تعاملات زمان × گروه برای صحبت کردن و نوشتن از نظر آماری معنادار نبودند. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که شرکت در برنامه کتاب‌درمانی چندمولفه‌ای مبتنی بر ACT با بهبود انعطاف‌پذیری روان‌شناختی و درک مطلب در نوجوانان آسیب‌دیده از زلزله همراه بود. شواهد مربوط به مهارت شنیدن در رویکردهای تحلیلی مختلف کمتر سازگار بود و بنابراین باید با احتیاط تفسیر شود. با توجه به طرح شبه‌آزمایشی، تخصیص غیرتصادفی و فقدان گروه کنترل فعال همسان از نظر توجه، این یافته‌ها نباید به عنوان اثرات علّی قطعی منحصراً منتسب به کتاب‌درمانی تفسیر شوند.

Background-Tenth-grade students at Riyadhussholihiin Senior High School reported difficulties understanding existing Arabic textbooks due to limited explanations, exercises, multimedia support, and independent learning opportunities. A needs analysis involving 29 students showed that 80% strongly needed more accessible and engaging digital materials. Objectives-This study aimed to (1) develop Google Sites-based interactive Arabic teaching materials; (2) determine their feasibility; and (3) examine students’ reading, listening, writing, and speaking outcomes. Methods-This Research and Development study employed th ADDIE model. Data were collected through observation, interviews, needs-analysis questionnaires, expert-validation sheets, and pretest-posttest assessments. Results-The resulting Google Sites materials integrated texts, pronunciation audio, instructional videos, images, interactive exercises, and quizzes. The material-validation score was 87.98% (44/50), whereas the media-validation score was 82.86% (29/35). Students provided positive responses to the materials, with an overall response score of 87.98%. The reported mean total score increased from 59.30 before implementation to 73.99 after implementation, an increase of 24.77%; listening showed the largest percentage increase (29.45%). Conclusions-The materials were feasible for use and were associated with improved Arabic language learning-outcome scores in the participating class. The conclusion is limited to the study cohort and should not be interpreted as a separate claim about student motivation.

زمینه و هدف: دانش‌آموزان پایه دهم دبیرستان Riyadhussholihiin گزارش کردند که به دلیل محدودیت در توضیحات، تمرین‌ها، پشتیبانی چندرسانه‌ای و فرصت‌های یادگیری مستقل، درک کتاب‌های درسی عربی موجود برای آن‌ها دشوار است. تحلیل نیازسنجی با مشارکت ۲۹ دانش‌آموز نشان داد که ۸۰٪ آن‌ها به شدت به مواد دیجیتال قابل دسترس‌تر و جذاب‌تر نیاز دارند. اهداف: این پژوهش با هدف (۱) تدوین مواد آموزشی تعاملی زبان عربی مبتنی بر Google Sites؛ (۲) تعیین میزان قابلیت استفاده آن‌ها؛ و (۳) بررسی نتایج یادگیری دانش‌آموزان در مهارت‌های خواندن، شنیدن، نوشتن و صحبت کردن انجام شد. روش‌ها: این مطالعه از نوع پژوهش و توسعه و مبتنی بر مدل ADDIE بود. داده‌ها از طریق مشاهده، مصاحبه، پرسشنامه نیازسنجی، فرم‌های اعتبارسنجی خبرگان و آزمون‌های پیش‌آزمون-پس‌آزمون گردآوری شد. یافته‌ها: مواد آموزشی تدوین‌شده در Google Sites شامل متون، فایل‌های صوتی تلفظ، ویدئوهای آموزشی، تصاویر، تمرین‌های تعاملی و آزمون‌ها بود. امتیاز اعتبارسنجی محتوا ۸۷/۹۸٪ (۴۴ از ۵۰) و امتیاز اعتبارسنجی رسانه ۸۲/۸۶٪ (۲۹ از ۳۵) به دست آمد. دانش‌آموزان پاسخ‌های مثبتی به این مواد ارائه دادند و امتیاز کلی پاسخ‌دهی ۸۷/۹۸٪ بود. میانگین نمره کل از ۵۹/۳۰ پیش از اجرا به ۷۳/۹۹ پس از اجرا افزایش یافت که معادل ۲۴/۷۷٪ رشد بود؛ بیشترین افزایش درصدی مربوط به مهارت شنیداری (۲۹/۴۵٪) بود. نتیجه‌گیری: مواد آموزشی تدوین‌شده از نظر قابلیت استفاده مناسب بودند و با بهبود نمرات یادگیری زبان عربی در کلاس مورد مطالعه همراه بودند. نتیجه‌گیری صرفاً به نمونه پژوهش محدود است و نباید به عنوان ادعایی مستقل درباره انگیزش دانش‌آموزان تفسیر شود.