Analysis of Difficulties in Arabic Oral Communication among Arabic Education Students

Abstract

The teaching of maharah kalam (Arabic oral communication) in Islamic higher education continues to face a persistent challenge: mastery of linguistic theory does not automatically translate into confidence and fluency in speaking. This study aims to analyze the contributing factors behind the speaking difficulties experienced by fourth-semester students of the Arabic Language Education Study Program at an Islamic higher education institution, despite their strong academic performance in nahwu and sharf. Employing a descriptive qualitative case study design, data were collected through a semi-structured written questionnaire consisting of twenty-three items across seven thematic domains, followed by in-depth oral clarification interviews with ten purposively selected informants. The data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model, encompassing reduction, display, and conclusion drawing. The findings reveal that speaking anxiety rooted in fear of negative evaluation was the most dominant factor (f = 10/10), followed by over-monitoring of grammatical rules (f = 5/10) and cognitive overload due to habitual mental translation from Indonesian (f = 5/10). Additionally, the absence of bi’ah lughawiyah and a tense classroom atmosphere were reported by most informants (f = 6/10), while limited active vocabulary was the least cited factor (f = 4/10). These results indicate that the primary barriers are non-linguistic and mutually reinforcing. The study implies that effective oral fluency requires psychomotor automaticity developed through continuous practice in a psychologically safe environment, rather than through additional grammatical instruction.