The Efficacy of the Random Text Strategy in Enhancing Arabic Reading Comprehension (Muthala'ah) at an Islamic Teacher Training College
Keywords:
Arabic Language, Arabic Reading Comprehension, Islamic Teacher Training College, Random Text StrategyAbstract
Purpose of the study: This classroom action research describes how the Random Text strategy affects students' learning activity and measures its improvement of Arabic reading comprehension (muthala'ah) among one class of female students at an Islamic boarding school in Riau, Indonesia. Methodology: A two-cycle Classroom Action Research based on the Kemmis and McTaggart model (planning, acting, observing, reflecting) was conducted with 18 purposively selected Grade 2C female students in 2020/2021. Data were collected through a validated four-domain observation rubric scored by two observers and an achievement test, then analysed descriptively as percentages and class means. Main Findings: Learning activity increased from 65.97% in Cycle I to 77.08% in Cycle II (an increase of 11.11 percentage points). The class mean achievement score rose from 7.83 to 8.56, and the proportion of students meeting the Minimum Mastery Criteria improved from 88.9% to 100.0%. Engagement gains were clearest in the verbal and social domains. Novelty/Originality of this study: While the Random Text strategy has been used for Hadith content, EFL reading, and junior-high reading, this study is the first to apply and evaluate it for higher-order Arabic reading comprehension (muthala'ah) within an immersive KMI boarding-school context, offering a context-specific, classroom-tested account rather than a generalised efficacy claim.
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