Designing a Language Environment to Acquire Speaking Skills in Islamic Boarding Schools

Ade Ruswatie^1*, Irra Wahidiyati², Muhammad Wahyudi³

¹Arabic Language Education, UIN Saizu, Purwokerto, 53126, Indonesia

²English Language Education, UIN Saizu, Purwokerto, 53126, Indonesia

³Arabic Language Education, UNIDA Gontor, Ponorogo, 63471, Indonesia

ABSTRACT: Speaking skills are one of the language skills that require more practice than theory. A language environment that is designed as well as possible by presenting activities that are practiced orally is very supportive for the acquisition of speaking skills. This study aims to describe how the design of the language environment in acquiring speaking skills in Islamic boarding schools in Central Java. This research is field research and using a qualitative approach. Islamic boarding schools in Central Java were the population in this study while Elfira, Al Hidayah and Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding schools were the study samples. Data collection using observation, interviews and documentation. While data analysis is carried out through data reduction, exposure and conclusion making. The results showed that Islamic boarding schools in Central Java designed a language environment by presenting language activities that were practiced orally to acquire speaking skills. Researchers hope that this article provides an overview for language observers and activists to always present language activities in order to acquire speaking skills in particular and other language skills in general.

KEYWORDS: Language Environment, SLA, Language Activities, Speaking Skill, Islamic Boarding School.

INTRODUCTION

A language environment that is appropriate to the circumstances of foreign language learners makes it easier for them to acquire language skills. Parenting and language environment at home become the basis for language acquisition, because this family environment causes the presence and absence of disruption to children’s social communication (Swanson, 2020). From several studies explained, that the home language environment created has a very close relationship with social skills(Zhou et al., 2019). In other words, a child’s first language environment is an indicator to measure future language skills (Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015; Ramírez et al., 2020; Weisleder & Fernald, 2013).

The Language environment is one of the supporting factors in acquiring language skills. Researchers can use one of the language environment analysis systems to determine the characteristics of the child’s language environment (Wang et al., 2020). Social speaking style and good language can  improve children’s speech style socially and linguistically (Ramírez et al., 2020). In the Western world, the language environment formed in an established home is closely related to a child’s speaking skills(Swanson et al., 2019). In short, older people have a significant impact on the environment and child development (Tsinivits & Unsworth, 2021).

Islamic colleges are one of the conducive places to acquire language skills. In this study, it will be explained, the condition of language learners who have a mother tongue background in islamic colleges and learners who use Arabic as a second language (Almalki et al., 2021). If students’ speaking skills are good, it is because of the existence of a good language environment that is also designed somewhere or in this case islamic college (Bonyan et al., 2020). Various language activities are presented in order to make it easier for Arabic learners to acquire speaking skills. To see the role of language activities in the acquisition of speaking skills, these activities must be monitored and evaluated (Bertau, 2014). The acquisition of speaking skills is still a debate, whether due to language activities or language activities themselves (Lee & Drajati, 2019; Thiel et al., 2006).

Speaking skills will be easily acquired with the formation of a language environment in Islamic boarding schools. And based on facts in the field, desigining a language environment in Islamic boarding schools is easier because students live in it. Arabic television programs in order to habituate speech. In case, this program includes modern Arabic standards (Kissine et al., 2019). Habituation in speaking by practicing what is obtained from the language environment is quite a conducive way to improve the learner’s ability to speak (Lee & Drajati, 2019). Therefore, the more language activities presented by Islamic boarding schools, the faster language skills will be acquired (Lee & Drajati, 2019).

The language environment in Islamic boarding schools plays a role and has good implications in the acquisition of speaking skills. Therefore, as one of the environments that are relied on to improve the language of learners, Islamic boarding schools should provide language activities to acquire and master language skills (Dollmann et al., 2020). While speaking skills are a means of communicating to convey goals. Islamic boarding schools that require their students to speak a second language will not be implemented properly without mastery of the mother tongue (Bonfieni et al., 2019). In this case, the Islamic boarding school is the right place in designing a language environment for the acquisition of student speaking skills (Wang et al., 2022).

However, in its implementation, the language environment has not been followed by various activities that support the acquisition of language skills. If we talk about the language environment, it is closely related to second language acquisition and this is not easy because it requires commitment from the institution that designs the language environment (Hall, 2019). In fact, monitoring must always be carried out which ends with an evaluation to find the reason for the decline in the acquisition of speaking skills in Islamic boarding schools. Language activities should focus on one skill in order to be easily evaluated. In this case, language activities that support language skills to vary, for example daily conversation, speech, discussion, and so on (Hall, 2019).

Insufficient monitoring of language activities is an obstacle in acquiring language skills. Based on preliminary observations made by researchers, language activities in Islamic boarding schools in Central Java Indonesia are fully handed over to the language department without supervision of the implementation of activities from Islamic boarding school caregivers. This is due to the responsibility of caregivers of Islamic boarding schools outside the Islamic boarding school which results in limited time they have. Age is a factor that influences the acquisition of language skills, in addition to language activities that are designed through the language environment (Dollmann et al., 2020).

The language environment consists of 2 kinds, natural and artificial. The natural language environment will be more conducive in acquiring language skills, but Islamic boarding schools are located in countries that use Indonesian as the language of daily communication. Mother tongues will appear when language learners speak the destination language. This is an obstacle in acquiring the skills to speak the destination language, although basically the acquisition between the first, second and third languages is the same, either naturally or artificially in the form of learning (Westergaard, 2021).

If the activities presented by Islamic boarding schools are not focused on the acquisition of speaking skills, then the results obtained are not optimal, this is because the scope of language activities is too broad. Therefore, it would be better if Islamic boarding schools classify activities based on the language skills to be achieved. In its implementation, the session of implementation of cottage activities must be accompanied by structured or unstructured language activities (Sreedharan et al., 2019). Specifically the acquisition of speaking skills can be done through the process of learning, practice and habituation (Sreedharan et al., 2019).

The absorption of mother tongue that hinders the acquisition of speaking skills. Mother tongue influences the acquisition of a second language. Language learners who want to master the destination language should master the mother tongue first. If Islamic boarding schools provide a stimulus for language skills, it can indirectly stimulate different cognitive abilities, and can stimulate language learners to speak well (Bubbico et al., 2019).Therefore, language activities must be focused on destination language activities so that what is expected is achieved. And that the language spoken by everyone involved in a language environment is very influential on the acquisition of student language skills (Ramírez et al., 2020).

Based on the explanation above, researchers feel it is important to conduct research in order to see how Islamic boarding schools design language environments to contribute to the acquisition of student skills by redesigning language activities to support the acquisition of speaking skills.

The purpose of this study is to describe the role and implications of the language environment in Islamic boarding schools to acquire student speaking skills.

RESEARCH METHOD

This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study design. The population in this study is all Islamic boarding schools in Central Java. While the samples taken were 3 Islamic boarding schools in Central Java. The informants in this study are; (1) Caregivers of Elfira Islamic Boarding School, Al Hidayah and Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School, (2) Language Section, (3) Students.

While the data collection techniques used are observation, interviews and documentation. The data analysis is carried out by; (1) Reduction of data obtained through observation sheets, interview guides and documentation by categorizing into data related to unrelated research. The relevant data will be processed by exposing it; (2) Data exposure is done by explaining things related to research; (3) Conclusion is a step of integrating findings by interpreting data and comparing with previous research

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, researchers present data and their analyze with observations, interviews and documentation. This research includes four parts: The first part is related to language activities in Elfira, Al Hidayah and Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding schools Central Java Indonesia. The second part is related to the elements of the physical environment. The third part is related to strategies for designing language environments and the fourth part is related to the acquisition of speaking skills. Here are his statements for each topic:

1. Language Activities

There are several language activities carried out at Elfira, Al Hidayah and Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding schools including:

1. Language night

The language night meant giving the new vocabulary every night after the evening prayer with 5 words, and included the presentation of vocabulary from the Islamic boarding school supervisor and putting it in the useful sentence and simple Arabic conversation as a practice for students in Arabic speech. All students of the Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School III should participate in these activities in order to increase their vocabulary bank in the Arabic language and their practice in using these words in a sentence that is useful even in simple conversation when speaking daily. These activities were carried out with the following steps:

• The islamic boarding school supervisor wrote the vocabulary on the board every evening.
• The supervisor of the institute obligated all his students to write these vocabularies in their own brochures.
• If students prepare themselves for the evening prayer, they should carry their notebooks in preparation for the language night activities.
• One of the institute’s supervisors applied to repeat the past vocabulary.
• The supervisor of the Islamic boarding school added the new vocabulary around 5 words with examples and put them in the useful sentence.
• In these activities, the students imitated these words alternating Arabic vocabulary with their meaning in the mother tongue. These activities were also held in English.

While in the Al Hidayah and Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding schools this activity is carried out in other forms.

1. Arabic language learning

It is the process of teaching the Arabic language, which included teaching the Arabic language, Islamic heritage books and grammar. These activities aimed to promote and deepen students’ language proficiency so that they can acquire and practice language skills. These activities were carried out by Mr. Hassan Al-Din and Mr. Najib, graduates of a university in Yemen who delved into the Arabic language. The students were divided into three phases, the first:  The primary stage of the first semester, the second: the middle stage of the third to fifth semitir, and the third: the advanced stage of the seventh semester to the last semimaster of the students residing in this institute. All students at this institute are students of the Islamic State University of Purwokarto. This linguistic learning process was held every night except Friday and Sunday, and began with giving the new vocabulary, then the students imitated it and wrote it on their notebooks and the professor ordered it to be added in the useful sentence. After that, the operation was completed. Educational by giving simple phrases and grammatical and morphological rules found in the textbook used in this institute. The textbook of Arabic language lessons and the Arabic book for juniors, volume two, was issued with the accompaniment of the Arabic dictionary “Al-Shamil” to search some difficult vocabulary. As for the educational materials, the professor taught them according to professions, and for this reason the use of the dictionary “Al-Shamil Al-Arabi” helped him in communicating educational materials because he showed vocabulary by profession and facilitated students in searching for the meanings of the required words. The curriculum for these activities has been written in conformity with the books in this institute.

Meanwhile, Arabic language learning at the Al Hidayah Islamic boarding school was held for every Tuesday night in exchange with the English language, and in this field, the researcher specialized in his field of research in Arabic language activities. The Arabic educational process used the book “Arabic Language Lessons” written by Dr. Abdul Rahim with the help of other books related to linguistic materials such as dictionaries, dictionaries, archives and conversation books. The curriculum is identical to the books in this institute. These language activities aimed to train students who understand the Arabic language and are accustomed to using it in daily life from listening to Arabic speech and applying it in daily conversation.

Arabic language learning at Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school is incorporated in Hard Teaching System (HTS). It is the process of teaching Arabic and English And apply them in everyday speech for one month. It was held in the month of Sha’ban on the twentieth day until the twentieth day of Ramadan, and this program is one of the complex annual programs and Teaching Arabic Language Privacy. It is the activities of teaching Arabic to prepare Arabic language teachers, please after the end of these activities, the participants were able to teach Arabic. These activities aimed to prepare the participants to be Arabic language teachers who excel in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and have sufficient competence to be able to teach Arabic in an attractive and innovative education.

These activities took place for three months and were held every morning after the morning prayer, the evening after the afternoon prayer, and the night after the evening prayer. It was attended by students of the Islamic Ihsan Institute of the higher level and university, and the Ihsan Institute authorized the participants outside the Institute. This programme hopes that teachers who are able to communicate Arabic information will emerge so that they can teach Arabic attractively at this institute in particular and in other Islamic institutes in general. Materials for these activities are on how to teach good Arabic and educational strategies, as well as appropriate methods and approaches to communicate information to students according to their different characteristics. Among the teachers who teach these activities are Mr. Miftahul Ulum, Ms. Naily Hurriyah and Mr. Irfan Sulistyo.

1. Q-time

It is one of the language programs at the Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School that was held every Sunday morning and this program went with language games that made all students speak and speak Arabic and English, as well as exchange students their ideas on issues in daily and social life, all of which they presented in Arabic and English. Students entering the Bilingual Village Community participated in this program.The goal of this program is to know the students’ linguistic ability to speak in particular and in all skills in general and to form the happy conditions of students to entertain them after the passage of days full of various activities.

1. Arabic speech

It is one of the linguistic activities that practiced students on Arabic speech and acquired the skill of speech. The Arabic lecture aimed to develop the students’ speech skill and develop their ability to speak daily in Arabic. The lecture was a monthly activity held in the third week or fourth week of each month on Sunday night. All the activities in this program are designed in either Arabic and English from chairing the session, taking deduction, language games and the like. These activities are mandatory for all students. In the third Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School with the aim of upgrading their competence in presenting pulpit oratory and practicing speaking in front of the congregation and encouraging them to be a useful human being in society. Also, in the lecture, the professors observed the texts of their sermon and observed when they did this sermon until the end of the program. If there is anyone who sleeps and sleeps during this lecture, I will order the supervisors and professors to get up to take the deduction from the presented oratory and sing the Arabic anthem with the physical movement.

Arabic speech meant activities in the formation of the linguistic environment, and it trained students in their speech skill and encouraged them to use the Arabic language according to their ability. With it, students were able to acquire the skill of speaking.  The Arabic speech proceeded according to the schedule set by the supervisors of Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school. Before he or she can apply to deliver the sermon, students must write the sermon and then inspect it. The aim of the Arabic speech was to practice the speech of the students of the Islamic boarding school in front of the group and accustom them to the organized speech in delivering their sermon using the acquired vocabulary. This is one of the activities that should be shared with students. Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school was a reference for the linguistic activities of Islamic boarding school. They are assigned to him to carry out the pedagogical journey with the aim of knowing the application of linguistic activities in this Islamic boarding school to take the good things from them in the development of their Islamic boarding school. One of the Islamic boarding schools that made the trip was Al Hikmah Islamic Boarding School Central Java. These activities were held to acquire the students’ linguistic skill of listening, speaking, reading and writing, so that all supervisors do not get tired of preparing effective language programs in order to develop students’ skills and develop their abilities.

All the language activities mentioned can only be done by obtaining the desired objectives of holding them, and to know the extent of the achievement, the Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School held an evaluation to measure the success of students in these activities. One of the types of evaluation used at this institute is the end-of-semester exam as an oral and written examination. The oral exam to know the students’ ability to speak and read, while the written exam to know their ability to vocabulary, writing and listening. These are all from the supervisors’ attempt to form effective activities until all means they used from attractive language games and objects around them so that students share all activities with happiness full of encouragements and linguistic motives. Because of the importance of linguistic activities in this institute, the institute gave punishment and reward to them, the supervisors gave punishment to those who violated the system and gave reward to those who obeyed it. Students were punished by memorizing vocabulary and singing the Arabic anthem until this news was communicated to their parents and preventing the participation of all activities before they participated in language activities. As for the reward, the institute gave it to encourage them so that their language abilities would be well promoted and their sciences would develop rapidly, and this is in order to declare them while all students are role models for others.

These are the activities of the Arabic and English lecture held by the Foreign Language Development Foundation and participated by all students at Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School. These activities were one of the monthly or weekly programs that were held every Thursday night from half past eight to eleven at night. This program aimed to form the practice of acquiring listening, speech and Arabic and English vocabulary, because the acquisition of language skills began from practice and habituation. The speakers and the moderator of the session used Arabic and English and were speeches in front of the group, and the other students listened to them, and in the middle of the program the moderator of the session will choose one of the students to take the deduction from the lecture that was delivered, and the students delivered it in Arabic or English. This lecture was followed by supervisors, professors, and even the director

1. Arabic Seminar

This program was conducted by language experts in Arabic and English. They are Indonesians and other foreign speakers. Among the English language experts were the Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School, Mrs. Endang Sartika, a graduate of a university in India, and the Arabic language experts are Dewi Rusliani, a graduate of the Maulana Malik Ibrahim Islamic State University Malang, Mrs. Suheila, who is from the Kingdom of Morocco and deepened in Arabic and English, Sayyid Hassanuddin and Ahmed Najib, who graduated from a university in Yemen, and Mr. Sami Ibn Abdul Karim Ibn Ahmed Ibn Mohsen Ibn Ibrahim Al-Ghafari, an Arabic language expert. From Mecca. The aim of this seminar was to increase information about the Arabic language and encourage them to apply it in daily life from all skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing.

The formation of the linguistic environment needs linguistic motives and encouragements, and for this reason of Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School held the Arabic symposium prepared by the Arabic speaker from Sudan, Sheikh Khaled Al-Tayeb Al-Faki Adam and from Egypt. The Arabic symposium taught the students in this institute to listen to Arabic speech from the speaker and tried to understand their words little by little and encouraged them that the Arabic language is the language of the Holy Qur’an, with which students were able to read and understand the books of the Islamic heritage, which was one of the educational programs in this institute. This Arabic seminar was attended by all students of Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School.

While the seminar at the Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school, The Arabic symposium was held to give encouragement and motivation to students of the Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School in Arabic linguistic sciences in particular and Islamic religious sciences in general. This seminar delivered by the Arabic speaker from Sudan, Mr. Hassan, who was a student at Jendral Soedirman university in Purwokerto, Banyumas, and the Islamic boarding school used him to deliver the Arabic symposium to encourage students in it.

Mrs. Lina from Palestine also understands Arabic and English. It was shared by all students at this Islamic Boarding School from all levels and from all aspects of study. This seminar is one of the attempts made by the Institute to form the linguistic environment. It instills in students the will to upgrade their linguistic proficiency so that they can apply it in their speech today and in their writing activities and reading Arabic books. This is also a valid ideal for students to get used to their listening.

1. Arabic Discussion

This activity is carried out with different topics as needed, including polygamy, popular topics at the time, and the like. This treaty activity became a lesson in the madrassa (religious school). This Arabic discussion aimed to practice the students’ Arabic speech and familiarize them in the search for solutions to problems and issues in individual daily life and social life.

While Arabic discussion in Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School is carried on the different topic according to the need to discuss it, and one of the topics that the students performed in the Arab discussion is the topic of polygamy. The students paid great attention to him and focused on the discussion between them, especially this topic, the students listened to his research deeply and sought to be with him in this discussion. The aim of the Arabic discussion was to build students’ ability to speak and train them to pronounce correctly in Arabic. It is shared by all LPBA members and allowed by others.

The comprehension of language is not enough to memorize vocabulary and the educational and learning process, but it needs practice and habituation. Arabic skill can be obtained in a variety of ways, including Arabic discussion. The Arabic discussion in Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School was a training for students in applying the skill of speech. The students tried to speak using the vocabulary in their thoughts and minds and tried to solve the problems discussed in Arabic. Before the Arab discussion took place, the Institute’s supervisors appointed the topic to be discussed as polygamy. All students participated in this discussion with pleasure, happiness and activity because the topic discussed is one of the desired topics.

1. Arabic Competition

This Arabic competition activity is always held in these three Islamic boarding schools. The Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School does not stop at upgrading students’ language ability, but is increasing day by day by registering its students in the participation of the language competition in an effort to absorb language skills. Among the competitions followed by the students of this boarding school were: the story presentation competition, the question and answer, the Arabic poetry competition and the Arabic anthem. This competition was held by the Student Organization of the Department of Arabic Language Teaching at the Islamic State University of Purwokerto. In order to measure access to language activities, the Institute held the exam for the first and second semesters in writing and orally, according to the teacher. After completing the exam, some of the teachers in this boarding school gave gifts to those who are active in participating in linguistic activities as a reward for their activity, and to advertise for those who are lazy in sharing them as punishment for their laziness

It is a competition related to language skills held by Al-Hidayah Islamic Baording School aimed at upgrading and developing students’ language proficiency in Arabic. It was attended by selected students from institutes near this institute. Some of the complex competitions are the competition for reading Islamic heritage books, the pulpit rhetoric competition, the competition for presenting the story, the Arabic anthem, and the like. These activities have ample benefits to encourage students to think that learning Arabic is easy, and this is contrary to the idea before the seminar in learning Arabic and participating in language competitions.

It is a competition related to Arabic and English inside or outside the boarding school.  Among the competitions held within the institute are calligraphy, question and answer, comic and anthem. As for the competition that was held outside the Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School, towards the competitions held by the Student Organization of the Department of Teaching Arabic at the Islamic State University Purwokerto, and among the competitions participated by the students of the Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School is the competition to present the story, calligraphy, question and answer competitions. They also participated in the language competition held by the Islamic Institute of Al-Hidaya from the competition of reading Arabic books, Arabic anthem, presenting the story, and the like. They may be winners or failures, and participation in competitions aimed to increase language expertise from complex activities.

Language activities are activities that require habituation, either oral or written. Language activities that support the acquisition of skills are familiarized with oral activities, while to acquire the other three skills can be done orally and in writing (Hasbullah, 2019). Language activities require media in their implementation such as vocabulary boards attached to walls and in strategic places to make it easier for students to acquire language skill  (Saputra, 2021) . Language activities are the most effective medium for acquiring speaking skills so that the language used is correct. The acquisition of speaking skills can be done with language activities inside and outside the classroom (Hidayat & Muna, 2022).

2. Elements of the physical environment

The elements of the physical environment here are the objects found in the linguistic environment related to space, terrain and means in Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School, the Islamic Institute of Guidance and the Islamic Ihsan Institute. The researcher presented questions about the elements of the physical environment, including: “Does this institute have a vocabulary board? If it exists, what does it look like?”. The are many elements of environment such as vocabulary board, wall magazines, written ads, journal or internet newspaper.

The elements of the physical environment in Al Hidayah Islamic Boarding School are vocabulary board and written ads.

While the elements of the physical environment in Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School are vocabulary board, written ads and Arabic short videos and film.

The environment in general consists of natural, social and cultural environments. A good environment is one that can meet the needs of those around it (Mutakin, 2018). So the environment formed for a specific purpose, for example for language acquisition must be supported by elements of the environment in order to achieve the goal.

3. Acquisition of speaking skills

The language activities at Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School are marketed to students to acquire and develop speech skills, such as Q-Time, a language program that trains students to speak Arabic or English, and the subject discussed in this program is agreed upon by them or by the institute’s supervisors. The lecture is the pulpit speech in Arabic and English, which aimed to train the students’ speech in front of the group by presenting their opinions and ideas towards the particular topic. The lecture was held in Arabic and English in all respects found in this program. From the chairman, from the introspective and the like. The Arabic language as the intermediate language in the educational process, the practice of listening to Arabic speech in the educational process leads to the acquisition and development of speech skill, and after the passage of days the student will appreciate the pronunciation of what they heard from spoken Arabic speech. After the researcher observed the acquisition and development of speech skills towards one of the students at the Elfira Modern Islamic Boarding School.

The acquisition and development of speech skill at Al-Hidayah Islamic Boarding School comes with some of the following things:

1. Conversation in the educational process
2. Increase new vocabulary and put it in a useful sentence
3. Practicing Arabic Speech in the Room
4. Use of vocabulary provided related to where to speak

Pronunciation of Arabic speech in certain places, such as in the canteen, the road around the boarding school, and in the mosque, and the speech may be in the university and in the commercial market.

Al Ikhsan Islamic Boarding School used to speak in Arabic and English, which was used every day as long as students were in and around the boarding school. With the slogan “Try and notice you don’t know”, the students held it firmly in their pronunciation in Arabic. Among the activities to practice students’ speech are daily dialogue, morning conversation, Arabic public speaking and the student’s participation in the story presentation competition held by the group of students of the Department of Arabic Language Teaching at the Islamic State University Purwokerto.

the researcher obtained the following things by dividing them into form and content for every boarding school.

• The area of shape, and included the following areas:

1. “Correct pronunciation of Arabic sounds”. The student was able to pronounce some of the words presented to her correctly in the words “garbun, syamālun, janūbun, syarqun”.
2. “Distinction in pronunciation between similar sounds is a clear distinction”. In this section, the student was able to clearly distinguish similar sounds. The researcher presented two words that are similar in pronunciation: “alamun-‘alamun“. The sounds are similar in these two words “the letter hamza and ain”.
3. “Distinguish when pronouncing between short and long movement”. In this case, the student differentiated the short and long movement into the word “faraḥun-fāriḥun“. The student said that the first word is short movement and the second word is long movement.
4. “Performing the types of tone and intonation in a way acceptable to Arabic speakers.” The correct pronunciation of non-Arabic speakers is not fully settled, and if that were the case, the student would have tried to pronounce the short phrase in tone and intonation according to her ability.
5. “Pronounce adjacent sounds correctly.” The researcher introduced the sentence, “Inna Allāha khalaqakum min turaāb.” In this case, the student pronounced the two adjacent letters, the letter Qaf and Kaf, so his pronunciation was not clear to distinguish the letters Qaf and Kaf.
6. “Pronouncing the words of enlightenment correctly distinguishes Tanween from other phenomena.” The student was able to pronounce the Tanween correctly correctly, and this is evidenced by the fact that she pronounced the Tanween in the sentence ” ̇zahaba Muḥammadun ilā jāmi’atin ִsagiratin fī madīnatin kabīrotin”.

• In terms of content, which included the following areas:

1. “Express ideas using appropriate grammatical formulas.” The researcher ordered the student to get to know yourself, she examined the students on the following expression: “Ismī is Asni Rahman, ana adrusu fī kulliyati al Tarbiyah, qimu ta’līmi al lugah al ‘Arabiyyah, wulidtu fī al tārīkh al sādis min māris sanata alfin wa tis’imiatin wa sab’in wa tis’īn. When the researcher asked one of the students at the Al Hidayah Islamic boarding school to express about himself, he answered: “ismī Khoirunnisa, ana ṭālibatun fī qismi al tarbiyah al Islāmiyyah”. while, when the researcher asked one of the students in Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school, he answered: “ismī ‘Ainul ִHayāti min Cilacap, adrusu fī al Madrasah al ̇Sānawiyyah al Islāmiyyah Al Ikhsan”.
2. “Choose the right expressions for different situations.” In this section, the student expressed her pleasure when passing the exam by saying: “ Al ḥamdu lillāhi najaḥtu fil imtiḥāni binatījatin mumtāzatin.” While one of Al Hidayah’s students expressed with the phrase:”Al ḥamdu lillāhi najaḥtu fil imtiḥāni”. while, when the researcher asked one of the students in Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school, he answered:” Al ḥamdu lillāhi qad niltu mā urīdu”.
3. “Use the expressions of courtesy and greeting properly in the light of his understanding of Arab culture.” This is in the expression of the personality of Mr. Hasan, Director of the Elfira Islamic boarding school 3, by saying: “Al Ustāẓ Hasan ka al Asadi ‘alā al minbari”. While at the Al Hidayah and Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding schools the student did not appreciate the use of metaphor in her speech.
4. “Using the correct system of Arabic word structures when speaking”. In this department, the student of Elfira Islamic boarding school expressed her life history with the expression “Fī awwali sanati 2015 sajjaltu nafsī fī qismi ta’līmi al lugah al ‘arabiyyah bi al jāmi’ati al islāmiyyatī al ḥukūmiyyati. Wainna al sakana fī al ma’hadi wājibun, ikhtartu ma’hada al Najāḥ al Islamī liaskuna fīhi limuddati 3 asyhurin, ṡumma intaqaltu ilā ma’hadi Elfira al ḥadiṡ ilā al yaumi”. While the student of Al Hidayah Islamic boarding school expressed: “Wulidtu fī yaumi al iṡnaini, 20 yanāyir 1997”. The student of Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school expressed: “’inda mā ajlisu fī al madrasati al ibtidāiyyati atb’u al musābaqah al khiṭābati al minbariyyati”. No matter how the student did not take into account the structures in the expression of her words, but she expressed the vocabulary in her mind.
5. “The expression when speaking, the availability of verbal wealth, enables him to choose accurately the word.” The researcher assigned the word taken from the verb: “iḥtarama-yaḥtarimu” and the student of Elfira put it in a useful sentence, “Iḥtaramtu al ustāẓ ‘inda ta’līmihi”. While the student of Al Hidayah answered “Qāma Zaidun liannahū iḥtarama al ustāẓa”. The student of Al Ikhsan expressed “Aḥtarimu mudīra al ma’hadi”.
6. “Arranging thoughts in a logical order that the hearer touches.” In this section, the researcher ordered the student to tell her family story with a short story. “Tatakawwanu usratī min al abi wa alummi wa al akhaini,” she said. While the student of Al Hidayah said “Ismu abī Muhammad ‘Abdul Laṭīf wa ismu ummī Ḥalīmatussa’diyah, ‘indī 5 ikhwan”. The student of Al Ikhsan said “Indī usratun kabīratun, fīhā abun wa ummun wa arba’atu ikhwānin wa ukhtun ṣagīratun wāḥidatun”.
7. “Expressing ideas with the appropriate amount of language, it is neither long and boring, nor is it short and disruptive.” The student expressed her need to study, said, “Aḥtāju ilā al dirāsati bi al jiddi wa al ikhtiyāri wa al du’āi”. The student of Al Hidayah said “Aḥtāju ilā al kitābi wa al qalami wa al ḥaqībati wa al khiẓāi”. While the student of Al Ikhsan said “Aḥtāju ilā al kutubi wa al dawāfi’I al dākhiliyyati”.
8. “Speaking continuously, coherent for acceptable periods of time, which indicates self-confidence and the ability to confront others.” In this case, the student spoke with others continuously and self-confident for her expressive words. While in Al Hidayah Islamic boarding school the student was regardless of her slow And in Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school the student was self-confidence for her expressive words.
9. “The use of non-verbal signals, gestures and movement as an expression of what he wants to communicate.” When expressing the above statements, the student used his hand to express what she wanted.
10. “Pause at appropriate intervals when speaking, when he wants to rearrange thoughts. or clarify something of it, or revise the wording of some of its words.” When the student wanted to repeat her words to clarify her previous words, she chose the occasion that matches her conditions and the conditions of the listeners.
11. “The response to the conversation in front of him is an automatic response in which he diversifies forms of expression and patterns of composition, which indicates a liberation from traditional stereotypes of speech.” Whenever the student was involved in the conversation, she responded well to everything presented to her. When she was asked the question, “Matā ji’ti min al jāmi’ati? She replied “ji’tu min al jāmi’ati fī al sā’ati al khāmisati masāan ” she replied”. While when the student of Al Hidayah asked the question” Matā ji’ti min al jāmi’ati? She answered “ji’tu min al jāmi’ati fī al sā’ati al ṡāliṡati masāan”. While the student of Al Ikhsan replied the question by “ji’tu min al jāmi’ati fī al sā’ati al ṡāniyati tamāman”.
12. “The emphasis when speaking is on the meaning and not on the linguistic form in which it is formulated.” The student gave her focus to the walking dialogue at some point. I left out other activities and things held.
13. “Efficiently change the course of conversation when the situation requires it.” The student changed the conversation that was said with her competence according to the situation.
14. “Tell personal experiences in an engaging and appropriate way.” The student was able to express her personal experiences, and here the student expressed her academic experiences that she shared the association of English and Arabic students in the English Department in an attractive and appropriate way. While at Al Hidayah Islamic boarding school, the student expressed her academic experiences that she said that studying English is difficult. The student of Al Ikhsan, the student expressed her academic experience that she followed the inter-institute competition last month.
15. “Delivering a short speech with complete elements.” The sermon was passed by the student when she lived in this institute, so she gave a short sermon on the subject “Ṭalabul ‘Ilmi”. While the student of Al Hidayah gave short speech by title “Birru al wālidaini”. The student of Al Ikhsan gave the speech by the subject “Al Ṣabru”.
16. “Frame a discussion on a particular topic and define the roles of the members involved”. The student of Elfira and Al Hidayah chaired the Arab discussion on the topic of polygamy by saying: “I am given 5 minutes to present data on polygamy.While the student  of Al Ikhsan was not able to lead the Arab discussion, because she did not do it at all.
17. “Draw conclusions from among the views put forward by members.” The student derived the results from the discussion by the participants except the student of Al Ikhsan Islamic boarding school.
18. “Conducting a telephone conversation with an Arabic speaker”. As for the telephone interview with the Arabic speaker, the student did not do it once.

Second language acquisition supported by an adequate environment and interaction with peers who in this case are in the same position as foreign language learners have a very dominant influence on acquiring students’ speaking skills (Tsinivits & Unsworth, 2021).  Natural language acquisition is only obtained in the natural language environment, and has been acquired by infants between 5-8 months, but second language acquisition for non-Arabic speakers will be obtained only in the artificial environment (King et al., 2021). There are 2 factors that affect the acquisition of speaking skills, namely (1) Internal factors that include the environment and (2) friends. While external factors include the family (Rasyid, 2023).

CONCLUSION

From the article described above, it can be concluded that language activities in Islamic boarding schools in Central Java are many and differ from one pesantren to another. This activity is a form of language environment designed in order to create a language environment in acquiring student speaking skills.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Thank you to those who provide funds, institutions and affiliates so that this article has been written, hopefully it will provide benefits for the improvement of education and language in pesantren in particular and for language learners in general.

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