Arabic Teachers’ Perceptions of the Obstacles to Integrated Learning and Its Effectiveness in Improving Critical Reading Skills among Basic Stage Students

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to understand Arabic language teachers' perceptions of the obstacles and effectiveness of integrated education in improving critical reading skills among primary stage students. Additionally, it aimed to explore whether there are differences based on variables such as gender, experience, and academic qualifications.

Methods: To achieve its goals, the study designed a questionnaire with 24 items distributed across two sections. The first section addressed the effectiveness of integrated education in improving students' critical reading skills, divided into three areas: inference (5 items), discrimination (5 items), and evaluation (4 items). The second section focused on the obstacles of integrated education with 10 items. The sample consisted of 487 Arabic language teachers in the capital, Amman, Jordan, selected through stratified random sampling, representing 18.93% of the study population.

Results: The study revealed high teacher perceptions of integrated education's effectiveness in enhancing critical reading skills. Inference ranked highest at 3.90, followed by discrimination at 3.89, and evaluation at 3.66. Significant differences were found based on gender, favoring females, and academic qualifications, favoring postgraduates, as well as years of experience, favoring those with 5-10 years and over 10 years. Teachers also rated obstacles to integrated education high, with excessive artistic and administrative tasks ranking first and students' lack of electronic device skills ranking last.

Conclusions: The study recommends encouraging Arabic language teachers to incorporate integrated education in teaching critical reading. It suggests evaluating the infrastructure of schools in Amman to create a suitable educational environment for integrated education in educational institutions.