Listening to Arabic as a Foreign Language: Challenges and the Role of Augmented Reality in Enhancing Comprehension

Abstract

Listening skill is a fundamental component in the acquisition of Arabic as a foreign language. However, students often face challenges in mastering this skill due to linguistic, pedagogical, and affective factors. This study was conducted to identify the level of motivation, difficulties, and psychological aspects among students in learning Arabic listening skills, as well as to examine the relationship between motivation and difficulties. A quantitative research design was employed using a questionnaire distributed to 261 students from the Social Sciences cluster at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, who were taking Arabic as a third language. Purposive sampling was used to select the respondents. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 29 to obtain mean scores, standard deviations, and percentages. The findings revealed that students demonstrated a high level of motivation to master listening skills, particularly in distinguishing Arabic sounds. Nevertheless, they encountered difficulties in comprehending complex oral input such as lecturers’ lectures and faced limitations due to the lack of authentic audio materials in the teaching process. Correlation analysis indicated that there was no significant relationship between students’ motivation and their level of difficulty in learning Arabic listening skills (r = 0.051, p = 0.411). This suggests that motivation alone is not sufficient to overcome pedagogical and linguistic challenges. From an affective perspective, some students were found to have low confidence in practicing listening skills, which in turn affected their learning effectiveness. Therefore, the study suggests the integration of Augmented Reality as an innovative strategy to strengthen the teaching of Arabic listening skills through the provision of authentic materials, interactive simulations, as well as enhancing students’ motivation and confidence.