Teaching and Learning Arabic Vocabulary: From a Teacher’s Experiences

Vocabulary acquisition is a benchmark for language proficiency, which involves writing, reading, listening and speaking skills. A good command of language relies on the individual’s vocabulary size and the level of understanding of a word. In fact, in order to use a language lucidly and effectively, a speaker or writer must choose the most precise words. Thus, vocabulary is a set of words known and used within a language to construct meaning in written texts and communication at large. In learning Arabic language, vocabulary acquisition becomes the main hindrance to the success of the whole language learning. Many students find it difficult to speak and write skillfully in Arabic because of a limited vocabulary. Arabic vocabulary lessons are implicitly applied in the teaching and learning process in classroom, thereby cause difficulties for students to master the language. Therefore, this paper discusses the experiences of Arabic vocabulary learning among the non-native speakers of Arabic from an Arabic teacher’s perspectives. The discussion is also focused on the literature review related to vocabulary in Arabic language learning. Other than that, several recommendations are drawn to help improve the teaching and learning of Arabic vocabulary acquisition in Malaysia.