PROPOSED STANDARD OF ARABIC READING PROFICIENCY BASED ON THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGE (CEFR) LEVELS A1 AND A2

The academic requirement for students pursuing a major in Arabic language and Islamic studies, among other requirements, demand their proficiency in the comprehension of Arabic literary sources. Past research suggest room for improvement in students proficiency in Arabic literacy. The issue is also encountered by students ofKolejUniversiti Islam Perlis (KUIPs). Therefore, the issue pertains to whether the need for precise criteria in assessing students language competency, specifically their competence in reading Arabic texts, is the fundamental factor contributing to this problem. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive investigation aimed at establishing a standardised framework for assessing Arabic reading competency. This study aims to discover the fundamental factors contributing to students shortcomings in this area and develop effective strategies to address these challenges. This study aims to present a standardised framework for assessing Arabic reading competency, explicitly targeting the A1 and A2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference based on Languages (CEFR). The CEFR is widely recognised as a comprehensive framework for evaluating language skill levels. This study utilises qualitative methods, specifically a literature review and semi-structured interviews, to gather primary data. The main sources of primary data include: 1. relevant studies on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in general, 2. the CEFR in the context of Malaysia, and 3. the implementation of the CEFR in the Arabic curriculum. Additionally, secondary references such as written books and articles are used. The collected data were analysed employing both inductive and deductive approaches. The results suggest that utilising the CEFR language proficiency level standards during the A1 and A2 phases can be a valuable tool to enhance Arabic reading skills and to support ongoing progress. The study also proposes outlining CEFR-based Arabic reading competence requirements at the A1 and A2 levels. This study recommends the need for further research to obtain expert validation to enhance the proposed standards. Furthermore, it is suggested by the study that further investigation should be undertaken to formulate a proposal of reading proficiency criteria within the elementary levels (B1 and B2) and the advanced levels (C1 and C2).