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43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
Effectiveness of Arabic Language as a Medium of Instruction in
Enhancing the Performance of Students in Architecture Studio
Courses
Tomas U. Ganiron Jr.
Associate Professor
IAENG
Hongkong
E-mail: Tomasuganironjr@gmail.com
Keywords: Arabic language, effective teaching, English language, medium of
instruction
INTRODUCTION
The function of language as a medium of instruction plays an important role in
promoting an effective teaching and learning. It is an issue that has been debate by
many scholars all over the world for many years.
The Arabs reject French because of specific relationship between French domination
and colonization. A third alternative has presented itself with arrival of English in
Maghrib. It has the advantage of not being the language of the colonizer and being
the premier language of instruction in architecture, engineering, medicine, technology
and international trade. Because of its advantage, English has been spreading
rapidly in Arab countries like Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia [1,6].
The role of language as a medium of instruction has been a concern mostly in
countries where immigrant students are in the minority such as the United Kingdom
and United States.
Many studies have been revealed that teaching using the mother tongue in the early
foreign language. It has also been reported that if children are taught in language s
which are different from their home language or mother tongue, they drop out from
school, have low academic performance, and repeat classes due to a high failure
rate. This state of affairs is still persistent in Qassim University and Hail University
[2,4]. Research also shows that when a child masters the first language then learning
another language becomes less problematic in the habits of speech, listening,
reading and writing.
The use of vernacular in education which brought about the education principle that
the best language of instruction is the mother tongue of the learner, several attempts
have been made to implement various language policies in multilingual countries in
Middle East and Africa [3.4].
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
In Ethiopia, the mother tongue has been in place for the last 15 years or more at
least in the majority language group. However, in spite of the effort exerted to
maintain quality mother tongue education by all regions involved, there is still a
critical problem regarding [5].
Moreover, the children of many of the majority language groups have not yet had the
opportunity to learn in their mother tongue so far.
This study explores the effectiveness of Arabic Language as a medium of instruction
in enhancing the performance of architecture students in studio courses of Qassim
University.
1 QASSIM UNIVERSITY
1.1 History
Qassim University was established in 2004 by merging two Qassim branches of
Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University and King Saud University. Since the
establishment of the university, it has experienced a remarkable growth in enrollment
and a significant expansion of faculty and its administrative staff [6]. The medium of
instruction in Qassim University (QU) is English.
Qassim University (QU) appeared in the QS Work Ranking for the first time in 2011.
According to the QS report, it has shown excellent potential for strengthening its
position by harnessing its core strengths in teaching and Research.
QU has published Research papers with institutions ranked in top 100 of the 2011
rankings. QU has also shown initiative in arranging International Seminars in order to
develop relations with global academic peers. The number of male and female
students registered at university during 2010-11 approached 50,000 and number of
faculty members and staff reached well over 4,000 [5]. At present the university
encompasses 28 colleges both for male and female students.
.
1.2 College of Architecture
The College of Architecture in Qassim University (QA) is committed to prepare
professionals in the design and architectural sectors through professional
undergraduate program in the academic areas of industrial design, project
management, structural engineering, urban planning and visual communication.
Collaboration, community engagement, innovation, global connection and critical
practice are core values intertwined in all of the programs at the College of
Architecture.
Architecture students learn in unique and flexible settings from innovative faculty and
through progressive pedagogical models.
The College of Architecture maintains the right to limit enrolment in all courses and
may retain student work for exhibition or for records and accreditation purposes.
The College of Architecture in Qassim University is among the modern colleges in
Saudi Arabia. The Royal Decree to establish the college was issued on December
22, 2010. The college received its first batch of students in the academic year 2010-
2011.
Enrolled student must pass the preparatory year and are assigned by the Deanship
of Admissions and Registration in the University. They are further required to pass
qualifying skill tests of the College as well as the personal interview. The study plan
follows the rules of the semester figures as the college education system is based on
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
studio-based learning. Study duration is five years after the preparatory year,
including the professional year at the end of program
1.3 Architecture Studio Courses
The following are the architecture studio courses under the Bachelor of Architecture
program in Qassim University.
1.3.1 DES 101-Design Studio 1
Introduce the principles, conceptual and critical skills, and the techniques of design.
Students learn to observe the world critically and meticulously and to analyse both
the broad structures and the small details of visual phenomena. Students master
skills needed to conceptualize and communicate their observations through
traditional means (drawing, painting and drafting), as well as through digital and other
media. They learn craft and acquire making skills with a variety of materials and
methods. Class assignments, critiques and presentations will enable students to
begin developing an aesthetic awareness coupled with critical thinking skills
1.3.2 DES 102-Design Studio 2
This continues the principles of DES 101 with an emphasis on testing aesthetic and
perceptual assumptions. Students develop problem-solving techniques through
individual design solutions. While DES 101 focuses on skills and the discovery and
critical understanding of the phenomenal world, DES 102 is primarily concerned with
manipulation and synthesis, and the design and creation of unique two- and three-
dimensional design concepts.
1.3.3 ARC 201-Architecture Design Studio 1
This course deals with studio-based investigation on the fundamentals of making
architectural form and space with emphasis in design inquiry, exploration and
process. It concentrates on classic instances of form sources in architectural and
interior design: function, experience, structure, construction and context. Digital
media are integral to the studio, and students receive instruction in software
appropriate for design purposes
1.3.4 ARC 202-Architecture Design Studio 2
This continues the principles of ARC 201 with increased emphasis on design
development and physical and technical resolution. Digital media are integral to the
studio, and students receive continued instruction and practice in software
appropriate for design.
1.3.5 ARC 301-Architecture Design Studio 3
The course emphasis on the advances in the making of architectural form based on
concepts derived from space, structure and building construction. Studio-based
projects emphasize design buildings with conventional, short-span structural
systems.
1.3.6 ARC 302-Architecture Design Studio 4
This course includes studio-based projects with emphasis on the tectonics of building
structure and envelope. Building case studies and design projects explore a range of
material and construction system types including steel, wood, masonry and
reinforced concrete.
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
1.3.7 ARC 401-Architecture Design Studio 5
The course deals with design of open site projects of moderate scale with emphasis
on building form derived from the analysis of site context and site planning strategies
1.3.8 ARC 402-Architecture Design Studio 6
This course deals with comprehensive building design project integrating building
technologies with other non-technical design issues. Introduces programming and
includes a detailed, design development of an aspect of building technology.
1.3.9 ARC 501-Architecture Design Studio 7
This course is a research directed investigation involving architecture and urban
design.
1.3.10 ARC 502-Architecture Design Studio 8
This course deals with research-directed design studio based on a topic related to
some aspect of architectural design (history/theory, technology, representation,
urban or heritage resource management etc.). Students pursue directed research in
support of a design investigation
2 RELATED WORKS
Many social psychologists argue that an attitude is an internal state that affects the
overt behaviour [1]. Specifically, language attitude can have a great influence in
areas such as education [2]. Furthermore, [3] pointed out that "there is some
evidence that language attitudes may influence how teachers deal with pupils; . . .
and other evidence suggests that attitudes about language affect second language
learning" [3].
Attitude towards a certain language can serve as a means to an end and as an end
by itself as well. That is, attitude can serve as a promoter of a certain behavior. For
example, if a person has a positive attitude towards that language, he would have
interest to learn that language. On the other hand, if a person is exposed to a T.V
program of that language and/or given school lesson, as a result the individual
develops positive attitude and also enculturation takes place [4].
A study by [5] reported that the language policy of Arabic language in the Republic of
Sudan has led to a great deal of controversy. [5] Analysed the process in Khartoum
University, in which English was the language of instruction until 1969. Although
officially Arabic faculties still teach in English. A study of attitudes toward English and
Arabic was administered by Taha at Khartoum University, sampling 250 students and
31 faculty members. 56% of students preferred to use Arabic as the language of
instruction, while 40% preferred English as the language of instruction. Thus attitude
was stated much more frequently than faculty members, of whom 71% preferred
English compared with 29% who preferred Arabic. 81% of the faculty members and
89% of the students preferred to read in Arabic in their free time. Both faculty
members and students were critical of the implementation of Arabic language at the
university. The participants though that there was a lack of planning and resources,
especially about the availability of references and materials in Arabic. Faculty
members were more positively disposed to Arabic language than the students,
although both groups were generally positive in their attitudes. However, English was
valued for its instrumental use. English was perceived as important for obtaining a
good job after graduation and as a means of access to international communication.
Implementation of Arabic language has been slowed by lack of resources, problems
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
in standardising scientific terminology, and the lack of staff to engage in Arabic
language and translation activities.
In the study of [7], he
and learning of English and Arabic, towards using English and Arabic as a medium of
instruction at university level. The participants were two groups, 272 students, male
and female from science and engineering faculties at Jordan University, Jordan, and
470 female students from faculty of languages and translation at King Saud
University, Saudi Arabia. All were randomly chosen. The question was which
language is more suitable for teaching medicine, engineering, science pharmacy and
other science fields, Arabic or English? The researchers used two methods for the
study: interviews with the Jordan university students and an open questionnaire with
the King Saud university students. The data collected in the study was quantitative,
as the researcher conducted the main reasons for favouring or not favouring English
as a language of instruction. 96% of students from Jordan University and 82% from
King Saud University think that the Arabic language is suitable for teaching Arabic
literature, religion studies, history and education, but the English language is suitable
for teaching science and engineering. Both groups gave reasons for their responses.
For favouring English, students agreed (i) that the English language is very important
for technology and the development of the country, (ii) and the English language is a
global language and the language of scientific research and publications, (iii) and
shortage of Arabic translation for science and technology studies, the lack of
publication in Arabic language in science and engineering studies, (iv) labour
markets prefer people who have studied in English in fields of science and
engineering, and English is a prestige language.
3 METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of Arabic language as a
medium of instruction in enhancing the performance in ten (10) studio courses of 120
architecture students in Qassim University for school year 2014-2015. The studio
courses teacher-researcher taught the two groups, teaching the experimental class in
Arabic language and the control class in English.
The study attempted to find out if there was a significant difference in the mean
achievement scores and mean gain scores in studio courses of architecture students
taught in Arabic language and those taught in English. Furthermore, the study
investigated the relation of these variables to achievement in studio courses: (1)
English.
The results of this study would be useful for writers of materials, either in Arabic or in
English. Policymakers can gain insight toward formulating a language policy in studio
courses of architecture students in Qassim University.
3.1 Data Gathering Tools
The achievement test which served as the data gathering instrument is composed of
fifty items of the multiple choice type. This test translated in Arabic was administered
to the experimental group while in English version was given to the control group. It
measured knowledge in architectural studio courses. Personal data sheets were
accomplished by the students to find out the relationship of the other variables on the
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
3.2 Method
The research procedure proceeded in phases.
The preparatory phase included selection of the subject matter for the construction of
the achievement test, the translation of the subject matter and the test questions to
Arabic by the researcher, the evaluation of the translated instructional materials and
test questions by Arabic lecturers/professors, and the reproduction of the
instructional and testing material printed in Arabic.
A panel of experts composed of three studio lecturers and language experts
assessed the content validity of the test.
Two months before the study proper, a gradual transition from English to the Arabic
medium of instruction in the experimental class was done. The researcher used
d
topics were identified and reproduced for the experimental group to use as
references.
The equivalence of the two study groups was established first by matching the
students based on their DES 101 grades. The English and Arabic pretests were
administered to the two groups: the English test to the control group and the Arabic
comparability in terms of their knowledge of Architectural studio concepts before the
treatment.
The First Day Material and exercises were prepared: the studio project and the
periodic test were done by the teacher-researcher. A week after the last topic of the
course was finished, the English and Arabic posttest were administered to the two
groups, respectively.
To gather data on home factors as possible variables influencing the performance of
the students, each student was required to fill-up an Information data sheet prepared
by the researcher.
on were observed by the
teacher-researcher. Student interviews on which medium of integration they would
prefer for teaching Studio courses were conducted by the researcher.
3.3 Analysis
All the statistical tests used the 0.05 level of significance. The difference in mean
scores was statistically tested using the t-test. The correlation coefficient was
likewise tested for significance using the t-test for correlation
3.4 Results and Discussion
The two groups were found equivalent in their DES 101 grades before the start of the
study proper. The Arabic group has a mean grade 83.67 while the English group had
83.65 as shown in table 1
Table 2 shows that the pretest mean score of the control group is a little higher than
that of the experimental group. However, the difference between the means is small
and not significant. Hence, the two groups can be considered equivalent.
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
Table 1. Equivalence of the two classes based on DES 101 Grades
Medium
of Instruction
N
Mean
Grade
Difference
of means
SD of the
difference
t-ratio
Arabic
60
83.67
0.02
0.230
0.237 (ns)
English
60
83.65
ns-not significant
Table 2. Equivalence of the two classes based on Pre-test mean scores
Medium
of Instruction
N
Pretest
means
Difference
of means
SD of the
difference
t-ratio
Arabic
60
12.864
0.795
4.407
1.196 (ns)
English
60
13.659
Table 3 shows that the Arabic class had a significantly higher post-test mean score
than the English class after the treatment. This suggests that the architectural studio
concepts were better understood with the use of Arabic.
Table 3. Test of difference of the post-test scores of the two classes
Medium
of
Instruction
N
Posttest
means
Difference
of means
SD of the
difference
Paired t
2.507
1.682
Arabic
60
24.273
2.682
7.096
English
60
21.591
This is further supported by the positive comments of the students interviewed.
(Fahad M.)
In English "....... I can understand the concept if it is in Arabic text"
(Sami H)
t is very easy to understand if it is written in Arabic because I can
express my
(Abdulaziz H)
I have a high grades if it is written in Arabic"
They attributed their high scores in Architectural studio test to the use of Arabic as
the medium of instruction
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
Table 4 shows that the mean gain scores of the two classes revealed that (a) both
languages resulted in an increase in the knowledge in studio courses, and (b) the
mean gain score of the class taught in Arabic was higher than that of the class taught
in English.
The data suggest that Arabic may be a better medium of instruction than English
enhancing learning in studio courses.
Table 4. Test of difference of the gain scores of the two classes
Medium
of Instruction
N
Main gain
scores
Difference
of means
SD of the
difference
t-ratio
Arabic
60
10.56
2.65
7.098
English
60
7.91
Three variables were includes to determine if they are significantly related to
. These are (a) performance in
Communication Arts 2 (Arabic and English); parents' educational attainment; and (c)
socio-economic status.
Using the Pearson-Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation, only performance in
Communication Arts 2 (both Arabic and English) is significantly related to the
mance in studio courses shown in tables 5 and 6.
Table 5. Matrix of correlation coefficient between post-test scores and selected
student characteristics (for class taught in Arabic)
Independent Variables
Posttest scores
Remarks
r
t
a. Extent of the use of Arabic
0.925
1.996
ns
b.1 Educational attainment of father
0.215
1.456
ns
b.2 Educational attainment of mother
0.278
1.866
ns
c. Income bracket of the family
0.256
1.737
ns
d. Performance in Communication Arts (Arabic)
0.345
2.366
*
e. Performance in Communication Arts (English)
0.523
3.745
**
*significant at = 0.01, two tailed **significant at = 0.05, two tailed
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
Table 6. Matrix of correlation coefficient between post-test scores and selected
student characteristics (for class taught in English)
Independent Variables
Posttest scores
Remarks
r
t
a. Extent of the use of Arabic
-0.051
0.332
ns
b.1 Educational attainment of father
0.133
0.857
ns
b.2 Educational attainment of mother
0.211
1.367
ns
c. Income bracket of the family
0.265
1.738
ns
d. Performance in Communication Arts (Arabic)
0.345
2.398
*
e. Performance in Communication Arts (English)
0.568
4.789
**
*significant at = 0.01, two tailed **significant at = 0.05, two tailed
.
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Lack of skills in communication is a disadvantage because it handicaps the student
to learn. The use of the native language in learning a concept makes the learners
confident and happier. They likewise learn faster because there is an atmosphere of
openness. They feel free to discuss, paving the way to understand the lessons being
taught.
However, many are not encouraged to use Arabic as a medium of instruction due to
lack of teaching materials. In this study, the Arabic-translated materials in Studio
courses were used as textbooks. Very few translated materials in Arabic and other
dialects can be found in the field.
To qualify for the National Organization for Assessment and Accreditation (NCAAA)
requirements, all textbook should be written in English and the medium of instruction
should be English especially in the professional and allied courses.
Moreover, architecture students find Arabic, the easiest medium of instruction and
gain good marks but in the present globalization, no one can survive without knowing
English. It is also impossible to take a jump from a standard Arabic to complete
English, as it is better to move step by step then to jump and fall. Thus, it has been
concluded that a higher levels of education, Arabic-English Bilingualism should be
implemented initially and then English Medium Instruction (EMI) should be
introduced.
The Ministry of Education should start EMI from primary level so that the new
generations do not find English difficult when they reach college.
REFERENCES
[1]
Banta, T. W., Comparing the Impacts of a Problem-Based Computer Assisted
Instruction and the Direct-Interactive Teaching Method on Student Science
Achievement, Journal of Science Education and Technology (2001), 10(2),
147-153.
[2]
Ganiron, T. U. Jr., Application of Accelerated Learning in Teaching
43rd Annual SEFI Conference June 29 - July 2, 2015 Orléans, France
Environmental Control System in Qassim University, International Journal of
Education and Learning (2013), 2(2), 27-38.
[3]
Duch B., The Power of Problem Based Learning, A Practical for Teaching
Undergraduate Courses in Any Discipline (2001)
[4]
Copland, M.A., Problem Based Learning and Prospective Principals, Problem
Framing Ability, Educational Administrative Quarterly (2000), 36(4), 585-607.
[5]
Ganiron, T.U. Jr., Accelerated Learning Techniques: Teaching Critical
Thinking in Qassim University, Journal of Proceedings of the 41st Annual
Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (2013)
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Ganiron, T. U. Jr., The Effect of Study Group Activity Guide in Expository
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University, International Journal of Education and Learning (2014), 3(1), 23-
34.Practical for Teaching Undergraduate Courses in Any Discipline (2001)
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Greewald, N.L., Learning from Problems, The Science Teacher (2000), 67(4),
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