Utilising Arabic-origin loanwords in teaching Malay as a foreign language

After sanskrit,arabic is the second-largest donor language to the malay vocabulary. through a vocabulary survey containing 40 arabic-origin malay loanwords,this study examines the utility of explicit presentation of arabic-origin malay loanwords and their etymologies in teaching malay as a foreign language to arabic speakers. the participants included 20 arabic-speaking students at the university of malaya,kuala lumpur,malaysia. the participants averaged 24.4 correct answers and 17.6 newly learned vocabulary items. at 5% significance level,a clear significant difference was found in participants' scores before and after the presentation of the loanwords' arabic etymologies (p = .000). this study concluded that the explicit presentation of arabic-origin malay loanwords containing one or more modified consonants or vowels and their etymologies benefits arabic speakers who are learning malay as a foreign language. © universiti putra malaysia press.