Eight Year Old Arabic Grammatical Acquisition: A Longitudinal

Study using MLU's Methode

Ari Khairurrijal Fahmi

and Puti Zulharby

Program Doktor Ilmu Pendidikan Bahasa, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl Rawamangun Muka, Jakarta, Indonesia / Dosen

Pendidikan Bahasa Arab Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof Dr Hamka, Jakarta

Program Doktor Ilmu Pendidikan Bahasa, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl Rawamangun Muka, Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Acquisition, Arabic Grammar, Eight Year Old Children, Longitudinal, MLU.

Abstract: Children Language Acquisition is one of the applied linguistic studies. The research on language acquisition

has been carried out with various methods, one of them is the MLU (mean length of utterance) method The

purpose of the study is to find out the grammar of Arabic which consists of vocabulary, verbs, numbers,

nouns, utterances in the form of sentences, and pronouns obtained by eight-year-olds. The method used in

this research is descriptive method with longitudinal technique. Data collection uses MLU techniques,

interviews, and observation. Data source is a child called Maisa, Data analysis was conducted by reduction,

classification, and interpretation. The results of the studyshowed that children as young as 8 years old

acquired the vocabulary of Arabic, and could say short speeches due to environmental factors and self-

development factors.

1 INTRODUCTION

The study of Arabic Language is necessary for

Moslem people in Indonesia and for Muslims, Arabic

is a language that is familiar with everyday life.

However, Arabic is a foreign language whose

position is still number two after English(Wahab,

2014). In Indonesia, the position of Arabic is still in

the first language category which is only taught in

schools that are under the auspices of the Ministry of

Religion affairs, such as Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI),

Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs), Madrasah Aliyah

(MA) and in Islamic boarding schools.

Joel C. Meniado from the University of the

Philippines was interested in examining Lebanese

language acquisition in three-year-olds. His article

titled First Language Acquisition: A Case Study of

Old Lebanese Child was published in the Journal of

Child Language Acquisition and Development

(doaj.org.id). Language Acquisiton notwithstanding

being impacted by organic and ecological

components, there are a few different contemplations

additionally played in getting characteristic language,

specifically neurological, psychomotor,

psychological, and full of feeling. The development

of the piece of his cerebrum that is in charge of the

utilization of semantic capacities, the advancement of

his muscles in charge of creating discourse sounds,

and the expulsion of his passionate channels that

prevent his language securing add to the regular

advancement of his first language. Despite the fact

that its capacity to get its first language seems natural,

its advancement and refinement are formed by the

earth. This ecological quality comes as

impersonation, rectification and support, similarity,

and organized information. Neurological,

psychomotor, subjective, and full of feeling

improvement can cause postponed language

advancement or poor etymological execution/skill.

(Kachlicka, Saito, & Tierney, 2019). Knowing how

these considerations affect children's language

acquisition will help the teacher plan and carry out the

lesson well. Because it is also noted that the

environment influences the acquisition of the

language of the first child, it is very important that

both parents (the first teacher of the child) and the

school teacher provide a conducive and supportive

environment where children can easily acquire and

learn the language fully. For instance, schools can

embrace and apply instructional method, offices,

projects, and understudy focused

arrangements.Parents and teachers must also function

as grammatically correct models of language so that

children can imitate the correct ones.

Fahmi, A. and Zulharby, P.

Eight Year Old Arabic Grammatical Acquisition (A Longitudinal Study using MLU’s Methode).

DOI: 10.5220/0008993600410047

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Education, Language and Society (ICELS 2019), pages 41-47

ISBN: 978-989-758-405-3

Other researchers, Hans Strohner and Rudiger

Weingarten (1982) from the University of Bielefeld

were interested in examining the acquisition of syntax

in children. The purpose of their research is to discuss

the function of the children's social environment for

one aspect of language acquisition, namely, mastery

of syntactic regularity. The study was conducted with

regard to communication patterns in several children

in Germany. The result was the acquisition of the

syntactic structure of German in children was

influenced by the verbal communication of children

with adults. Communication and interaction

indirectly make adults follow the syntactic structure

in children in order to convey the meaning intended

to the child. Language acquisition is a dynamic and

complex system that includes at least the specific

language involved, cognitive abilities, children's

behavior, and children's physical and social

environment. Every effort to build a theory in the

field of language acquisition must take all these sub-

systems, and especially their interactions. into

account Therefore, in the results of this study, they

mentioned that the acquisition of syntax in children

was obtained from children's interactions that were

influenced by the physical and social environment.

Children's cognitive development is indeed a

prerequisite for acquiring a language system, but this

cognitive development itself is very dependent on

social interaction with other humans.

Based on the facts above, the problem arises for

parents who want their children who are still in

elementary school to be able to speak Arabic, even

though he did not attend a school that studies Arabic.

With this, researchers are interested in examining

how the process of acquiring Arabic Language in

children aged 8 years.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Language Acquisition in

Psycholinguistics

One way that should be considered in language

acquisition is information specifically in second

language processing or psycholinguistic processing

(McLaughlin, Rossman, & McLeod, 1983). In this

view, learning a language and understanding a

language is not so different, both involve deciphering

sound stimuli and linking them to semantic

representation.

Competition theory suggests that reinforcing

instructions from the first language are carried over to

the initial stages of second language processing, at

least, the same instructions are available in the second

language. If the instructions that strengthen from the

first language and the second language match, this is

what will take place in the mind of the learner. But

these two things are often not suitable, even though in

the same language. English, Italian and Dutch all

have animations, positions, and adjustments that act

as instructions to show the actors; but if all of this is

confronted with each other in the same sentence, then

the Englishman will choose a sentence in the first

position as a strong clue, in more important animated

Italy, and in Dutch the more dominant

correspondence. (Gass, 1987; McDonald, 1987;

Kilborn&Cooreman, 1987). Second language

acquisition can be hampered by the processing

tendencies that we import from our native language,

and even further into the acquisition of the second

language that we display in processing "accents".

Further developments can take place in several

directions: some speakers of second languages

develop systems similar to native language compliant

systems, whereas other speakers, especially in social

settings, allowing for a lot of code- switching, and

developing to use both languages a joint system

representing between one language systems from

native speakers of both languages.The

psycholinguistic process approach to second

language acquisition distinguishes between

understanding and learning. In the psycholinguistic

process approach, learning a second language is like

learning the first language unless we start with some

more information.

The psycholinguistic processing model

emphasizes performance rather than competence,

more on strategy than rules. Even native speakers of

a language can show alternative patterns of various

clues (Harrington, 1987), which state that the nature

of native speakers is not a central status in the

psycholinguistic model rather than a competency-

based model. And that the difference between first

language speakers and second languages is not very

sharp. There is no proficiency threshold that

determines native speakers or perfect two languages

because the acquisition of language is considered a

process that continues to take place in response to

new information in any language.

2.2 Language Environment

Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (1982, 13-32) see the

importance of the language environment in learning

foreign languages. They stated that the quality of the

language environment greatly determines the success

of learning foreign languages. What they mean by the

ICELS 2019 - International Conference on Education, Language, and Society

language environment is everything that learners hear

and see in the target language. The environment

includes four factors: (1) the nature of the language

being heard, (2) the role of the learner in

communication, (3) the availability of concrete

references, and (4) the person who becomes a foreign

language model.

Some studies show that learners who study in a

natural environment have better communicative

abilities than learners who learn in a formal

environment. However, learning in a formal way has

a good, especially for adults, who can fulfill curiosity

towards a foreign language system. In addition,

formal learning can also improve accuracy by

applying a foreign language system in

communication.

The second factor is the role of learners in

communication, which includes three categories:

one-way communication, limited two-way

communication, and full two-way communication. In

one-way communication, learners listen or read

foreign languages, but do not respond. Examples are

listening to people talking, reading books, watching

television, etc. In two-way communication limited

learners hear and respond, but the response given is

not in a foreign language, maybe in Bahasa Indonesia

or non-verbal language. In full two-way

communication, learners hear and respond in foreign

languages.

Some research conducted shows that one-way

communication and limited two-way communication

in the early days of foreign language learning have a

good effect. Full two-way communication shows its

superiority when the learner is ready to speak.

The third factor is the availability of concrete

references, namely events or things that can be seen,

heard, or felt at the time the event or things are

discussed. It is said that communication about

concrete things that refer to the here and now makes

it easier for learners to understand most of what is

spoken in a foreign language. Therefore, concrete

references are an important factor in increasing the

acquisition of new structures and vocabulary in

foreign languages.

The final factor in the macro environment is the

people who become models in foreign languages.

Around learners, there may be people who can

become models, but learners do not use them

sometimes. Evidence shows that in model selection,

peers are preferred over teachers or parents, and

fellow group members are preferred over people

outside the group.

2.3 8-year-old-Childrens’

Characteristic

The end of childhood lasts from the age of six years

until the individual becomes mature. The end of

childhood is characterized by conditions that greatly

affect the social adjustment of children. Over the past

a year or two of childhood there have been prominent

physical changes and also changes in attitudes,

values, and behavior. During this time children

prepare themselves physically and psychologically to

enter adolescence.

In Ahmadi's opinion, the characteristics of

children aged 6-9 years are as follows: 1) egocentric

diminishing, 2) Focused attention on things that are

objective (logical rational), 3) diminished fantasy

traits, 4) learning period, like to dive into the minds

of others, 5) develop conscience, 6) seek freedom in

developing social desires (1989: 135).

Children at the age of 8 years usually have

reached physical maturity, they have been able to

control the body and balance. In addition, the social

development of children who are in the early

elementary school age, among others, have been able

to show their self-awareness about their gender, have

started competing with peers, have friends, have been

able to share, and are independent.

The emotional development of children aged 8

years, among others, children have been able to

express reactions to others, have been able to control

emotions, and have begun to learn about right and

wrong. For the development of intelligence, early

elementary school-age children are shown by their

ability to do serialization, group objects, interest in

numbers and writing, increase vocabulary, enjoy

talking, understand causation and develop an

understanding of space and time.

In the spiritual aspect, this period was marked by

the rapid development of intelligence. Children want

to know everything and think logically. The desire to

know and love the truth that is also applied in terms

of spirituality. In physical terms, children show

activities that lead/aim. Even though he has worked

in groups, his attitude is still self-centered. Its

activities at this time were not completely

spontaneous (itself). During this time the child also

sees and asks a lot. The fantasy is alive and always

associated with real life. It also appears that children

think more logically.

Primary school-age children are at a concrete

operational stage. In this age range children begin to

show learning behaviors as follows: (1) Start looking

at the world objectively, shifting from one aspect of

the situation to another in a reflective manner and

Eight Year Old Arabic Grammatical Acquisition (A Longitudinal Study using MLU’s Methode)

looking at the elements simultaneously; (2) Start

thinking operationally; (3) Using operational thinking

to classify objects; (4) Forming and using

connectedness rules, simple scientific principles, and

using causal relationships; and (5) Understanding the

concept of substance, volume of liquid, length, width,

area, and weight (Ahmadi, 1989: 23).

Taking into account the developmental stages of

thinking, the learning tendency of primary-school-

age children has three characteristics, namely, 1)

Concrete, 2) Integrative, and 3) Hierarchical.

Concrete means the learning process moves from

concrete things that can be seen, heard, smelled,

touched, and tweaked, with an emphasis on the use of

the environment as a source of learning. The use of

the environment will produce learning processes and

outcomes that are more meaningful and valuable,

because students are faced with actual events and

conditions, natural conditions so that they are more

real, more factual, more meaningful, and the truth is

more accountable.

Integrative implies that at the age stage,

elementary school children see something learned as

a whole, they have not been able to sort out concepts

from various disciplines, this illustrates a deductive

way of thinking that is from general things to part by

section.

Hierarchical meaning implies, at the stage of

elementary school age, the way children learn to

develop starts gradually from simple things to more

complex things. In connection with this, it is

necessary to consider the logical sequence, the

relationship between the material, and the scope of

the breadth and depth of the material.

2.4 Mean Length Utterance (MLU)

The number of elements that contain meaning in a

sentence uttered by a child can be measured by the

mean length of utterance (MLU). MLU is a concept

used to measure linguistic products produced by a

child. In general, the MLU calculation is done by

dividing the morpheme number with the utterance

number. That is, the number of speech numbers

needed is 50 or 100 main utterances of the child.

The higher the child’s MLU, the higher the

mastery of the child's language. At this stage of

development, the child will recognize one-word

sentences, two words, and so on, until the child is able

to use complete sentence structure (agent-object-

location). Empirically,if children.s MLU increases,

the form of syntax will also be more complex.

3 METHODS

This study uses descriptive qualitative methods. This

study intends to examine the symptoms and events

that occur in natural environmental settings as they

are more deeply.

The research data are the words and utterances of

an 8-year-old child. The source of the data came from

direct observation of an 8-year-old child named

Maisarah, born on March 13, 2009, currently a third-

grade student at Pasia State Elementary School,

Bukittinggi. Data collection techniques are carried

out by participant observation, where the researcher

is the aunt of the subject being studied. Data analysis

is done by techniques as in qualitative research,

namely by reduction, classification, and

interpretation of data that has been collected.

4 FINDING

This research was carried out at the house of the

researchers' own siblings in NagariPasia, Bukittinggi

for 2 weeks. Maisa is a grade 3 student, with her

mother's educational background graduating from the

Al-Mawaddah Islamic Boarding School in East Java.

Maisa’s language environment is Minangkabau

language and Indonesian. Bukittinggi is a Citythat is

thick with Islamic teachings so that several terms in

the Minang language are absorbed from Arabic.

Traditions in the Pasia‘s Village itself, it can be said

obliging every child of the age of Maisa to be able to

read the Koran accompanied by worship. The

majority of children of the age of Maisa have been

able to read the Koran well and have been able to read

recitation.

The introduction of Arabic has been studied by

Maisa since attending Kindergarten continued in

Elementary School. The introduction of Arabic in the

house was given not every day by Maisa’s Mothers

call Bunda to Maisa because of her busy schedule at

Budi Mulia Kindergarten, Pasia, Bukittinggi. The

introduction of Arabic is usually done inrelaxed

situations, with one-two-word giving and continuing

with the introduction of sentences. In a situation like,

this it is expected that the child will acquire the

languagein a natural way. Along with the intellectual

and emotional psychological development of

children, the introduction of Arabic is done with the

addition of media in the form of textbooks and also

by using electronic media to further stimulate

children's interest in learning Arabic.

ICELS 2019 - International Conference on Education, Language, and Society

From the observations during the data collection

process, it can be stated that Maisa has been able to

master several Arabic words including the following.

a. Vocabulary

1) Pronouns in Arabic (isimdhammir) which include

14 words, namely:

Tabel 1: Pronouns in Arabic.

He, Him, They



She, Her, They



You,







You







i,i, we



2) Number words from 1-10, namely:



Mother: Assalamu‘alaikum my child

Maisa: Wa'alaikumsalam, My Mother

Mother: How are you?

Maisa: Alhamdulillah, I'm fine

Mother: What is your name?

Maisa: My name is Maisa. What is your name?

Mother: I'm Melawati. Who is he?

Maisa: He is Ghazali, my younger brother

………

3) Nouns around the house, namely:

Table 2: Nouns araound the house.



My Father





Mother



House



Brother



Clothes





Car



Slippers





Door



Book





Lamp



Television





Table



Clock





Bicycle



Rice





Chair

4) Verbs, namely:

Table 3: Verbs.



Writing





Eating



Working





Sitting



Out





Studying



Going





Sleeping



Drinking





Wake Up

b. Utterances in Sentences

The forms of an utterance of Arabic produced by

Maisa are obtained from the process of listening and

imitating sentence patterns spoken by her mother.

These utterances pertain to daily activities that are in

accordance with the context of the conversation at

home. The forms of speech include:

- Let's play

- I go to school

- Already father

- This is my book

- That's your book

 

 



 

 

 

The form of speech in a short conversation has also

been mastered by Maisa, for example, the following

conversation.

Bunda : Assalamu‘alaikumanakku

Maisa : Wa’alaikumsalam, Bunda

Mother: Assalamu‘alaikum my child

Maisa: Wa'alaikumsalam, My Mother

Mother: How are you?

Maisa: Alhamdulillah, I'm fine

Mother: What is your name?

Maisa: My name is Maisa. What is your name?

Mother: I'm Melawati. Who is he?

Maisa: He is Ghazali, my younger brother

 : 

 

 : 

 

 : 

 

 : 

 

From the results of learning Arabic, Maisa has also

mastered the changes in Arabic verbs based on

changes in words instead. The most fluent mastery is

the change in the past verb (fi'il madhi). This is

because fi'il madhi only undergoes change at the end

of the word, the change follow the words instead,

whether singular, dual, or plural, and whether the

word instead of the third, second, or first person.

While in fi'il mudhari '(present verb) changes occur at

the beginning and end of the word. For this, Maisa

hasn't mastered it yet.

Eight Year Old Arabic Grammatical Acquisition (A Longitudinal Study using MLU’s Methode)

Table 4: Changes in Past Verbs Based on Words Instead.





























































The table above is a pattern (wazan) of changes to

the verb based on changes in the substitute words

which amount to 14 pieces. These patterns of change

have been well mastered by Maisa. This means that if

given another verb, Maisa easily pronounces the verb

in both past and present forms. Mastery of changes in

this verb is important because this concept is not

found in Indonesian as the first language of Maisa.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the findings of the above research it can be

argued that mastery and production of Maisa Arabic

as an Eight-year-old child already looks quite good.

Most Vocabulary acquired has quite a lot of nouns

related to the environment, numbers and verbs (fi'il).

The speech production produced by Maisa is also

sufficient for a simple introduction to daily activities,

starting to ask about names, news, and some daily

activities. At this level, Maisa has not yet been

introduced to the grammatical concepts of Arabic

because of its complexity, but in terms of the

meanings used in accordance with the sentence

patterns that should be. This is due to the similarity of

the Indonesian and Arabic sentences.

In Maisa's research, knowledge of Arabic was not

purely obtained in a language acquisition process like

the first language. None of the family and community

environment uses Arabic as the language of daily

communication. For this reason, it is necessary to

have deliberate language teaching actions to make

him understand the Arabic language which is still at

home. The action of teaching is not the same as

learning Arabic in school with one Arabic subject

matter in general.

Maisa's mother uses her free time, it can be at

night or during the day teaching Arabic to Maisa.

Often the introduction of Arabic is done at bedtime or

when eating together. In accordance with cognitive

development, the process of acquiring and learning

language in Maisa is carried out based on the

principles of language learning in a concrete,

integrative, and hierarchical manner. Concrete means

the learning process of Arabic goes from concrete

things that can be seen and done with an emphasis on

the use of the environment as a source of learning.

This is so that the acquisition and learning of Arabic

is more meaningful and valuable, according to natural

conditions, so that it is more real, more factual, and

the truth is more accountable.

Integrative means that Arabic is taught as a whole,

they have not been able to sort out concepts from

various disciplines, this illustrates a deductive way of

thinking that is from general things to section by

section. While hierarchical means at this age stage,

the way children learn to develop gradually starts

from simple things to more complex things. Starting

from simple word recognition to complete and

complete sentences.

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Eight Year Old Arabic Grammatical Acquisition (A Longitudinal Study using MLU’s Methode)