Fundamentals and Objectives of Reading Skill Development in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language

Reading is a central receptive skill in foreign-language learning, yet Arabic requires attention to language-specific factors in addition to general principles of second-language reading. This article examines the foundations and instructional objectives of reading when Arabic is taught as a foreign language. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, it draws on research on second-language reading, Arabic pedagogy, orthography, morphology, vocabulary, and reading strategies. Attention is given to the transition from decoding to comprehension, vowelization, the root-and-pattern system, receptive vocabulary, fluency, and strategic reading. The article argues that instruction should develop script recognition, lexical and grammatical processing, comprehension, appropriate reading speed, and purposeful strategy use rather than remain limited to oral pronunciation. A gradual progression from fully vowelized and supported texts toward partially vowelized and authentic unvowelized materials is proposed. The final objective is an independent reader who can approach Arabic texts according to purpose, genre, and difficulty.