Arabic debaters in national secondary school are students who not only possess excellent command of the language but are also able to articulate effectively their thoughts and argument in the Arabic language. The training sessions prepare the debaters with effective oral skills that are individually tailored to suit every debater's needs. The aim of this study is to identify the activities involved in the training sessions that have been designed by the coaches, particularly based on the approaches of gathering relevant vocabulary and word collocation, reinforcement and application. The data was collected by using questionnaires that focused on the three approaches. The respondents were 34 debate coaches from selected Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama, Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan and Kelas Aliran Agama. Findings from the study indicate that the debate coaches always implemented the three approaches in their training sessions. In the approach of gathering relevant Arabic words and sentences, the activity with the highest mean is finding the meaning of new words in Arabic through Arab-Malay dictionary. In the approach of reinforcement, the activity with the highest mean is correcting language errors made by students. In the approach of application, the activity with the highest mean is to make students translate sentences or words and make short sentences. This study proposes for the implementation of the three approaches in the teaching and learning of Arabic language in secondary schools, in order to enhance the debaters' oral proficiency skills of the target language.

This study discusses on the language style of amr concerning hajj, encompassing umrah as revealed in surah al-Baqarah. This study addresses two main objectives; firstly, to identify the form and functions of amr and secondly, to summarize the implicit meaning of the diverse forms of amr in the context of hajj including umrah in surah al-Baqarah. The study is designed using qualitative approach by employing text analysis based on Quranic exegeses by traditional and modern scholars. (c)Abbas (1997) Theory is applied for the first objective and the remaining objective is based on the Theory of al-Awsiy (1988) and al-Zuhayliy (1991). The findings of the study regarding hajj and umrah encompassed two forms of amr, which are fi(c)l amr and uslub khabariy which means insyaly. Three purposes of amr are discovered within this context and they are obligatory (wajib), warning (tandid) and sunnah.With regards to the diverse types of indirect meaning of amr forms, this study found that fi(c)l amr is used as a strong and firm way to reflect the intensity of command in explaining fundamental matters. Uslub khabariy which is referred to as insyaly, is used subtly because it involves complicated matters. In conclusion, the forms of amr that have been used in specific contexts and circumstances have its own unique and implicit meanings. Thus, it is a good starting point to extend the scope of the present study to include other surah besides al-Baqarah.

Teaching of Arabic in Islamic religious schools in Malaysia starts since form one. The subject is divided into four skills. Writing skill is viewed as an important skill for students to master in order to answer exam questions. The current issue regarding students and their writing abilities are their inability to construct sentences properly. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate students' capability in building/constructing sentences through word arrangement, sentence extension and essay writing. To obtain the data, a set of questionnaires consisting of three parts were distributed to 200 secondary school leavers who are pursuing their studies at Islamic Science University of Malaysia. The result of this study shows that the students' level of capability in word arrangement is good. Their sentence constructions are generally acceptable. However, students are weak in essay writing.

Bronfenbrenner's (1977; 1986; 1994) Ecology of Human Development Theory has placed a few groups of people in the microsystem level (the innermost circle) to have influence on the development of a person. This paper puts forth a proposition of altering the groups of people in conjunction with globalisation. This is so due to the movement of people to other countries in the pursuance of knowledge. Through a qualitative paradigm, the data from a study on the international students' English language learning experiences show that for these students, the groups of people who have been helpful in their quest to learn the English language are their friends, teachers/lecturers, other international students and even anyone who is able to converse in the English language. The interviews and online postings of 9 international students studying in Malaysia reveal that the family members, who have been rated as playing the biggest role in the development of a person in Bronfenbrenner's theory, are considered as 'unhelpful' in the students' journey to learn the English language. Thus, globalisation is a phenomenon that can bring in various elements that might cause alteration - expansion to even a long withstanding theory. This brings only richness to the education world.

This paper aims to analyze the application of Balaghah al-Badi (embellishments) in the following aspects. First, the aspect of motivation or encouragement in conducting good dealings in surah ad-Dhuha. Second, the secret of selecting certain words and their interpretations in terms of the meaning and stylistic semantics in the same surah. The knowledge of balaghah al-Quran illuminates the art and beautifulness of the Quran from rhetorical perspective. Surah ad-Dhuha describes the rhetoric from the embellishment perspective such as al-Tibaq (anti-thesis), al-Muqabalah (multithesis), al-Jinas and al-Saj'(rhymed prose). This qualitative study used Quran as the primary source of reference, while the secondary sources are the tafseer of Quran from the language aspects (al-Tafsir al-Lughawi) and books which are related to I'jaz al-Quran and Arabic balaghah. The findings indicate that the application of al-Badi in surah ad-Dhuha is not merely a hieroglyphic of the Quran, but without the element of al-Badi, it will lead to the distortion of meanings. The arrangement of the verses in this surah employs decorative elegance and it is one of the most effective ways in the educational process of human psyche. This study is one of the upward research areas in the applied Arabic rhetoric and hopefully it will provide a significant contribution to the interpretation and analysis of various themes in the Quran.

Creating tasks may sound simple, however, it is one of the challenging jobs for language teachers. In teaching language, teachers need to consider many things such as learners' social background, learner's language proficiency, learners' ability, learners' attitude and many more. Thus, creating tasks can be a challenge for them. Cummins (1981) suggests 2 main elements in designing materials - contextual relevance and cognitive difficulty - which are formed into a matrix to show four levels to consider in tasks design. Based on Cummins' matrix, tasks can be easy for some, and difficult for some. One task may not suit all learners, and thus make task design a challenge for language teachers. This study looks at the use of tasks, developed based on Cummins' matrix, for low proficiency English language learners. Five types of tasks are used, and learners' views are gathered to understand what they think of the tasks. The aim of the study is to explore learners' perceptions towards tasks prepared for an English language class, and aligning them with the teacher's understanding of the tasks. Fourteen learners were involved in the study. Using qualitative approach, data is gathered through interviews, which are then transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis. Results show that learners have different views of tasks, which may be due to many factors within learners' experience and knowledge. This shows that although learners are of the same proficiency level, the difficulty of tasks may not be equal for all learners as it is affected by the contextual relevance of the tasks to learners, as well as the cognitive level of learners in their ability to perform the tasks. Therefore, understanding learners is important for teachers in planning suitable tasks for their learners. By doing this, learners will have more enjoyment in language learning, and able to associate tasks more to their life.