An Investigation into the Attitudes of the Non-Muslim Malaysian Learners of Arabic (NMMLA) toward Learning of Arabic as a Foreign Language

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of non-Muslim Malaysian learners (NMMLA) toward learning of Arabic as a foreign language. The study focused on examining the respondents’ attitudes toward learning foreign languages in general, and toward learning Arabic language and their attitudes toward native speakers of Arabic in particular. The findings revealed that the NMMLA held a high positive attitude toward the learning of foreign languages, but held a moderate positive attitude toward the Arabic language and its native speakers. It is hoped that by conducting the research on the NMMLA’s attitudes toward language learning, it will contribute to the transformationof the teaching and learning of Arabic language through the expansion of the horizon of Arabic language teaching in the Malaysian context in more innovative ways, not only to the Malay Muslim learners but to the non-Muslim learners as well.