Ta’tsīr Uslūb Tamtsīl al-Adwār (Role Play) fī Taḥsīn Mahārat al-Kalām bi al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah ladā Ṭullāb al-Ṣaff al-Sābi‘ bi al-Madrasah al-Mutawassiṭah al-Islāmiyyah al-Ḥukūmiyyah al-Sābi‘ah bi Jākartā al-Syarqiyyah

Abstract

Speaking skills are essential in learning Arabic because they enable students to express ideas and communicate effectively in various contexts. However, many seventh-grade students at MTsN 7 East Jakarta still struggle to speak Arabic due to low self-confidence, limited vocabulary, fear of making mistakes, and insufficient opportunities to practice speaking actively in the classroom. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether the Role Play method significantly improves students' Arabic speaking skills. This study employed a quantitative pre-experimental approach using a One-Group Pretest–Posttest Design. The participants consisted of 32 seventh-grade students selected through total sampling. Data were collected through observation, oral tests, and documentation. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, the paired-sample t-test, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the N-Gain test using SPSS. The findings showed that students' mean score increased from 74.69 on the pre-test to 88.44 on the post-test. The paired-samples t-test indicated a statistically significant improvement (p < .001), and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test further confirmed this result (p < .001). In addition, the average N-Gain score of 0.52 was categorized as moderate, indicating a meaningful improvement in students' Arabic speaking skills after the implementation of the Role Play method. In conclusion, the Role Play method effectively improves seventh-grade students' Arabic speaking skills at MTsN 7 East Jakarta. These findings suggest that Role Play can serve as an effective interactive learning strategy to enhance students' speaking performance in Arabic language learning, particularly in the context of Islamic junior secondary education.