Constructing Bi'ah Lughawiyyah in Arabic Language Learning at Bi'tsatul Islamiyah Islamic Boarding School: An Ethnographic Study of Students' Language Practices and Culture

Isra Hayati Darman

doi:10.24256/jale.v7i2.8930

Authors

Isra Hayati Darman Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri Mandaling Natal, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24256/jale.v7i2.8930

Keywords:

Bi'ah Lughawiyyah, Language Environment, Bilingual Islamic Boarding School, Language Policy, Jasus, Mufradat

Abstract

This study analyses how bi'ah lughawiyyah (language environment) is constructed in Arabic language learning at the Bi'tsatul Islamiyah Islamic Boarding School, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra, treating the language environment as a socio-pedagogical practice shaped by institutional policy and the students' daily life. The study employed a qualitative approach with an ethnographic design. Data were collected through observation and interviews with students and alumni who had directly experienced boarding-school life, and were analysed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña together with Spradley's domain analysis. The findings show that the language environment is built through a scheduled bilingual system: English is used from Monday to Wednesday, Arabic from Thursday to Saturday, and Sunday is a free language day. The policy applies in both classrooms and dormitories, and Indonesian and regional languages are restricted for six days a week. The language section (qism al-lughah) supports the system by giving three to five new words (mufradat) every day; for first-year students the words are accompanied by example sentences that serve as initial scaffolding. Consistent use is maintained through two layers of language monitors (jasus), namely peer monitors and secretly appointed monitors, and through sanctions for violations. The study concludes that the language environment rests not on regulation alone but on the interplay of input, practice opportunities, monitoring, discipline, habituation, and flexibility, forming a deliberately constructed socio-linguistic ecosystem.

References

Almuzakir, Putra, W. H., Wijayanti, L. M., & Salma, K. N. (2023). The role of qismu al-lughoh in forming a language environment in a modern Islamic boarding school. Tsaqofiya: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Arab, 5(2), 291–303. https://doi.org/10.21154/tsaqofiya.v5i1.210

Ertugruloglu, E., Mearns, T., & Admiraal, W. (2023). Scaffolding what, why and how? A critical thematic review study of descriptions, goals, and means of language scaffolding in bilingual education contexts. Educational Research Review, 40, 100550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100550

Febriyanti, U., Syihabuddin, & Nurbayan, Y. (2021). Realisasi kebijakan bilingual area terhadap punishment dan reward. Taqdir, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.19109/taqdir.v7i1.7509

Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Pantheon Books.

Gass, S. M. (2017). Input, interaction, and the second language learner. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315173252

Hamid, M. A., Bahruddin, U., & Mustofa, B. (2008). Pembelajaran bahasa Arab: Pendekatan, metode, strategi, materi dan media. UIN-Malang Press.

Indrasanti, L., & Wita, F. R. (2023). Language, religion, and identity negotiation in Indonesian Islamic boarding schools: A sociolinguistic ethnography. Jurnal Tahuri, 20(2), 155–172. https://doi.org/10.30598/tahurivol20issue2page155-172

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Muttaqin, I., Bakheit, B. M., & Hasanah, M. (2024). Arabic language environment for Islamic boarding school student language acquisition: Capturing language input, interaction, and output. Al-Hayat: Journal of Islamic Education, 8(3), 892–907. https://doi.org/10.35723/ajie.v8i3.624

Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Rahmawati, S. M., Abunawas, K., & Yusuf, M. (2022). Peran bi'ah lughawiyyah dalam menunjang pembelajaran bahasa Arab di Pondok Pesantren Darul Huffadh Tuju-Tuju Kab. Bone. Inspiratif Pendidikan, 11(1), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.24252/ip.v11i1.29670

Rahmi, E. N., Nurmala, M., Nurbayan, Y., Syukran, S., & Faza, A. M. (2024). A phenomenological study of Arabic language environment to improve students' speaking skills at modern Islamic boarding school. Mantiqu Tayr: Journal of Arabic Language, 4(1), 232–256. https://doi.org/10.25217/mantiqutayr.v4i1.4085

Rizqi, M. R. (2019). Peran jasus dalam menciptakan bi'ah lughawiyyah di Pondok Pesantren Modern Fadllillah Tambak Sumur-Waru-Sidoarjo. El-Ibtikar: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab, 8(2), 123–148. https://doi.org/10.24235/ibtikar.v8i2.5512

Ruswatie, A., Asrori, I., & Sholeh, S. (2021). Istirātījiyyat takwīn al-bī'ah li da'm iktisāb al-mahārāt al-lughawiyyah fī al-ma'āhid al-islāmiyyah fī Jāwā al-Wusṭā. Lisanudhad: Jurnal Bahasa, Pembelajaran dan Sastra Arab, 8(2).

Serrano, R. (2022). A state-of-the-art review of distribution-of-practice effects on L2 learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 12(3), 355–379. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2022.12.3.2

Spolsky, B. (2004). Language policy. Cambridge University Press.

Spolsky, B. (2009). Language management. Cambridge University Press.

Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: A sociocultural perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x