Enhanced Instructional Learning Materials for Islamic Studies and Arabic Language

I. Introduction

Right of every child in education is applicable in the government educational policy of

the Philippines, all children as right holders must be given quality education opportunity

irrespective of their race, color, religion or culture (Godoy, N. et. al. 2008). In this reason, DepEd

implemented ALIVE program to make the Muslim children knowledgeable of their religion

(especially Islamic values) and the language of the Holy Qur’an which is Arabic language

(Sannad, J. 2015). The teaching of Arabic as a second language in the Muslim areas of the

Philippines is not only impliedly recognized by the provision of the new Constitution of the

Philippines (Article 15 Sec 3), but it is also premised on the following statement of the late

President Ferdinand E. Marcos, as follows “..and so long as the Filipino people have faith and

trust in me, so long as I am President of this Republic, I shall see to it that our Muslim brothers

are offered all the opportunities to serve the nation so that they truly become part of the national

community; that this government shall serve them with the same enthusiasm, vigor and zeal as it

has in serving the rest of the Filipino Citizenry; that their culture, their heritage and their religion

which is Islam, shall forever be part of the Filipino contribution toward culture and civilization.

Philippine education is defined in the 1987 Constitution, the Education Act of 1982 or

Batas Pambansa Blg. 232, the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 and Basic Education

Curriculum. The 1987 Constitution details the basis state policies on education. Article XIV,

Section 1. The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all

levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. Article XIV,
Section 2 (1). The State shall establish, maintain and support a complete, adequate and integrated

system of education relevant to the needs of people and society. Article XIV, Section 2 (4). The

State shall encourage nonformal, informal, and indigenous learning systems, as well as self-

learning, independent and out of school study programs particularly those that respond to

community needs. Article XIV, Section 3 (2). The school shall inculcate patriotism and

nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of

national heroes in the historical development of the country, teach the rights and duties of

citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal

discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological

knowledge and promote vocational efficiency.

The Ministry of Basic Higher and Technical Education further strengthen the Arabic

literacy among the BARMM region by incorporating Arabic subjects to the basic education.

ISAL teachers are responsible for providing Islamic studies and Arabic language among the

learners. However, ISAL teachers experience difficulties when it comes on providing learning

materials considering the fact that they lack learning resources. There are no enough learning

materials provided by the BARMM. Hence, ISAL teachers were have to supply what is lacking

in the learning materials they have to create learning activity sheets in order to fill the lacking

materials. Further, Arabic language is one of the difficult subject therefore ISAL teachers have to

provide an enhanced learning materials that can be easily understand and learn by the learners in

a simple and effective way.

 II. Review of Related Literature

Arabic studies are one of the tough subjects, several studies provide that Arabic

language is difficult to understand considering its complex rules and different standards. That is

why a non-native Arabic speaker finds it difficult to deal with Arabic study. Hence, as early as

elementary non-Arab country begins to teach their child Arabic language and Islamic values.

A wide variety of motivations can play an important role in a student’s decision to learn

Arabic (Brosh, 2013). Yet, learning Arabic can at times be a daunting, even intimidating

endeavor. By and large, Arabic learners expect to become proficient in reading, writing,

speaking, and listening in the new language. Achieving that goal requires hours of intense study

and comprehensive practice. The learner needs to control a new set of vocabularies and syntactic,

morphological, and phonological rules and to decode and match them to a new writing system.

The learner has to acquire a new alphabet with its different representations in print and script. He

or she has to figure out the direction of writing, the shape of the characters based on their

location in the word, and the precise relationship between letters (graphemes) and sounds

(phonemes); on top of that, the learner must be able to manipulate these elements in order to read

or say words (Stanovich, 1986). What makes the learning of Arabic even more challenging and

time-consuming is the duality of the language (diglossia) – that is, the strong distinction between

the standard variety (fuṣḥa) or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), on the one hand, and the spoken

one (ʿammiyya, or darija), on the other hand. Differences between these two varieties are widely

exhibited in syntax, morphology, phonetics, and semantics (Bassiouney, 2009). Fuṣḥa and

ʿammiyya are used in different socio-cultural contexts. They function, throughout the

contemporary Arab world, in a complementary way: Fuṣḥa is used in writing and orally for

formal functions, including religious, educational, and other cultural events. In its written form, it
is used almost exclusively in any printed publication all over the world. In its oral form, it is used

in formal situations, ranging from radio news broadcasts to university lectures to political

speeches to mosque or church sermons or such other formal addresses as those at national or

international conferences (Bassiouney, 2009). ʿAmmiyya does not have a script and is not

officially written. It is used in casual speech for usual day-to-day activities in such informal

settings as home, work, social gatherings, and conversations on the street as well as in all other

contexts that do not demand the use of fuṣḥa. Additionally, the structural differences between the

two varieties, along with diglossic spontaneous switching between them, resulted at some point

in the creation and development of intermediate and mixed varieties known as Middle Arabic –

also known variously as “Formal Spoken Arabic,” “Modern Inter-Arabic Language,” “Colloquial

Arabic of the Intellectuals,” “Intercommon Spoken Arabic,” or “Substandard Arabic” (Amara,

1995). Middle Arabic accommodates the dialects by dispensing with fuṣḥa’s complexity of cases

and inflectional endings and by borrowing some of the lexical, morphological, and syntactic

structures of the regional dialects (Bateson, 2003). In summary, learning Arabic is by no means

an easy task. The foreign language learner of Arabic needs to learn at least two different

varieties, the standard and the spoken. Ryding (1991, p. 216) goes even further: To achieve

“Functionally Native Proficiency,” a learner of Arabic as a foreign language must ultimately

master at least the three Arabic language variants used by educated Arabs: MSA, FSA (Formal

Spoken Arabic) and a regional vernacular.

 III. The Curriculum Proposal

1. Philosophy

All children are unique and have something special that they can bring to their own

education. I will assist my students to express themselves and accept themselves for who they

are, as well embrace the differences of others.

Every classroom has its own unique community; my role as the teacher will be to assist each

child in developing their own potential and learning styles. I will present a curriculum that will

incorporate each different learning style, as well as make the content relevant to the students'

lives. I will incorporate hands-on learning, cooperative learning, projects, themes, and individual

work that engage and activate students learning.

2. Students:

Students in public school specifically in the remote area are typically more dedicated

towards learning, BARMM is optimistic in transforming the education into a more inclusive and

Islamic way. Hence, incorporation of Arabic studies is inevitable, considering that most students

are Muslim it is expected that they already have prior knowledge about Arabic studies because of

the fact that they also enrolled in Arabic classes every weekend. Thus, they are more eager to

study Arabic subject in the school. They are highly motivated and determined in getting high

grades, they also tend to speak Arabic language and there are more knowledgeable in Arabic in

the class.
3. Goals and Objectives

This Enhanced Instructional Learning Materials for Islamic Studies and Arabic Language

aims to teach basic Arabic expression, communication, language and values education. These

aspects imply the acquisition of Arabic both at theoretical and practical levels. Teaching

stresses reading, writing, listening, speaking skills, grammar, and vocabulary. The student

will also need to learn the skills related to translation and interpretation. The study of Arabic

requires that students learn the classical components alongside the modern, when possible.

The goal of this enhanced instructional learning materials for Islamic studies and Arabic

language is to help the students understand Islamic values and learn Arabic languages.

Hence,

At the end of academic year, the students will be able to:

a. familiarize the Arabic alphabet;

b. know how to write and read Arabic words; and

c. appreciate Islamic concepts and values.

4. Structure and Sequencing

Learning Activity

Reading

activity

Learning Evaluation
 5. Instructional Strategy

Materials: methods:

Learning Activity Sheet Story Telling

Module Reading

Phonological awareness

Decoding and word recognition

Lecture and questioning

6. Evaluation of Learning

 Multiple choice Tests

 Fill in the blank

 Match pictures, objects or movements to oral description

 Draw picture in response to oral instruction

 String words together to make short sentences

 Discussion and explanation

7. Evaluation of Instruction

 Student ratings of instructions

 Anecdotal comments

 Peer review of activity sheet

 School head’s observation