Development of Arabic Speaking Skills of Students at Roudlotul Huda Islamic Boarding School

Abstract

This study is motivated by the importance of speaking skills (maharat al-kalam) as one of the primary competencies in communicative Arabic language mastery. So far, Arabic language learning in many educational institutions has primarily focused on grammatical aspects (nahwu and ṣaraf), resulting in students’ speaking abilities not being optimally developed. Pondok Pesantren Roudlotul Huda, as an Arabic language learning community, implements a different approach through the muḥadatsah program, which emphasizes the active use of language in daily life. The purpose of this study is to describe the forms of the muḥadatsah program, its implementation process, and the strategies used to develop students’ speaking skills at Pondok Pesantren Roudlotul Huda. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach, with data collected through observation, interviews, and documentation. The research subjects consisted of Arabic language supervisors (ustadz) and active students of Pondok Pesantren Roudlotul Huda. The collected data were analyzed through three stages: data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of the study indicate that the development of speaking skills at Pondok Pesantren Roudlotul Huda is carried out through several main activities. First, the Daily Muḥadatsah Program, which trains students to speak spontaneously on simple themes. Second, Weekly Thematic Dialogues, which improve speaking abilities through structured thematic discussions. Third, the implementation of Bi’ah Lughawiyyah (language environment), which habituates students to using Arabic in everyday communication. Fourth, Speaking Competitions and Proficiency Evaluations, which foster students’ confidence and creativity in public speaking. Through these various activities, the students’ speaking abilities showed significant improvement in terms of fluency (ṭalaqah), vocabulary mastery (mufradat), and sentence structure accuracy (tarkib). The muḥadatsah program at Pondok Pesantren Roudlotul Huda has proven effective in developing students’ Arabic speaking skills through a communicative approach and the establishment of a language-rich environment.