Analyzing Active Tasks in Jordanian Primary Arabic Textbooks: Teaching Strategies and Skill Development Implications

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the active tasks incorporated in Arabic language books for primary school students in Jordan. The focus was on the content, questions, and tasks within the books. A rubric consisting of 34 tasks and applications was used for data collection By utilizing a descriptive analytical approach, content analysis was executed using sentences and paragraphs as units of analysis. The results demonstrate that Arabic language books for 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade students contain 28 linguistic tasks and questions. Of these, 14 tasks are found within the paragraphs of the text, with a concentration rate of less than 1%. Meanwhile, 18 tasks are located within the questions, with a concentration rate of less than 3%. Conversation, dialogue, and description were identified as the most common types of tasks. It was also observed that there is a similarity between the paragraphs of the text and its questions concerning the total number of repetitions. The findings of this study bear significant implications for enhancing the development of active tasks in classrooms. They provide valuable insights for educational decision-makers about the quality of tasks within Arabic language books for primary students. Moreover, they pave the way for improving student skills in critical reading, creative writing, dialogue communication, reading, and drawing by promoting interactive teaching strategies that cater to the developmental needs of students. As a result, the study proposes several recommendations for enhancing these active tasks.