The Correlation between Arabic Learning Motivation and Arabic Language Competence of Education Study Program Students in Post-COVID-19 Pandemic

: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on learning, especially student learning motivation, which also has an impact on the Arabic language competence of high school students when they turn into university students. Students are not only required to be able to learn independently but also have to answer the challenges of the 21st century, especially to communicate using Arabic. The purpose of this article is to explore university students' motivation in learning Arabic after online learning and its correlation with their Arabic language competence. A quantitative approach was used with a bivariate correlation research method. The population of this study was students at UIN Raden Fatah Palembang with a sample of 1213 people with diverse scientific specifications. The research analysis was conducted with prerequisite test followed by correlation test and univariate test. The results showed that the motivation to learn Arabic language of students of Arabic language education study program has a positive and significant correlation with the level of Arabic language competence despite having gone through online learning for several years when students are in secondary education. Therefore, it is important for Arabic teachers to continue to innovate in learning by using digital learning media to increase motivation in Arabic. Learning should also be based on digital literacy, so that students can become agents of change by breaking the shackles of the lack of infrastructure in schools and replacing them with media that are ready to access and fill content related to Arabic language learning.


Introduction
The COVID-19-19 pandemic has passed but has left traces in the Arabic language learning process.Teachers and lecturers who previously had not used digital media for a long time started to utilize it with the completely online learning proces in COVID-19 pandemic era.It was started from learning preparation, providing materials, to the assessment process given from various software or online media platforms.At the beginning of the pandemic, the decrease of learning motivation was very significant, this is absolutely normal, because students were still experiencing a period of adjustment to the new learning patterns that were being implemented. 1is happened due to the internal factor of the students themselves.If it is not addressed immediately, it will disrupt a person's successful learning process 2 until ultimately the student's ability will decrease or even fail. 3Hence, providing motivation must be maximized, especially for introvert students, 4 so that students could have the same abilities even though the learning activities were carried out online.In general, online systems are indicated to have a greater chance of making a student lose their enthusiasm and motivation in learning 5 even though motivation has a big influence on language learning. 6nce, a lot of research related to motivation has been carried out, for example research related to sources of motivation that come from the competence of educators or the development of teaching tools used by educators (lecturers), such as the development of teaching materials, Qowaid materials and Arabic language materials. 7There are also methods 8 and models 9 that continue to be developed.Apart from that, the media also has a role in increasing motivation because the media is a tool for conveying information that is not limited by space and time, 10 as well as the Arabic language environment which is expected to continue to increase motivation in learning Arabic. 11 This research has one common motive to make students not only have instrumental motivation but must be integrative motivation that encourages students to be able to communicate among nations. 12Nowadays, many schools are not only focusing on religious motivation but have also expanded towards economic motivation because of the demands. 13Hence, there is a need for guidance in the learning process so that students are not only motivated to know but also motivated to do and experience the process itself. 14This article aimed to describe the motivational conditions of students who are the agents of change in the future of this nation.Students should have high motivation in learning foreign languages because the demands in the era of disruption require students to be able to communicate in foreign languages, one of which is Arabic.Unfortunately, COVID-19 pandemic has created a deficit in motivation and behavior in the learning process.
With good motivation, learning achievement can be improved. 15Motivation is one of the internal factors of students, the same as gender.Research showed that girls learn languages faster than boys. 16However, this should not be the main basis that it will be difficult for men to learn the language, because there should be other factors in the learning process which might influence the Arabic language learning process, such as 10 Thufeyl Vandayo and Danial Hilmi, "Implementasi Pemanfaatan Media Visual untuk Keterampilan Berbicara pada Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab," Tarbiyatuna 5, no. 2 (2020): 217-236.
11 Ismail Akzam, Harif Supriady and Alfitri Alfitri, "Improve Arabic Language and Islamic Skills with bisa System to Arab Village," Linguistics and Culture Review 5 no.S1 (2021): 624-632. 12 activeness.By being active in the class, students might avoid linguistic problems in the form of low mastery of language and the practice of linguistic rules. 17is article examined more about the influence of motivation to learn a language with the constraints of conditions that students have gone through previously on mastery of language rules and its practice called language competence. 18This language competency can be said to be the result of students' readiness to face learning realities that are different from the previous one. 19Previous researches had examined forms of decreased motivation, but this article was more focused on the impact of using an online learning platform. 20Besides, other findings showed that technology and non-academic obstacles also might make motivation decrease 21 and finally the readiness of knowledge possessed by students, 22 this readiness was almost the same as competency, but it was more comprehensive because it did not directly address a person's language skills stored in their language tools.With all the limitations of learning over the past 3 years, this article explained whether students' language competence was ready to accept learning conditions which are certainly more different from conditions when pursuing secondary education or still influenced by learning motivation as in previous research.

Methods
A quantitative approach was used to describe data related to both variables from the field.The research method used was bivariate correlation research method since this article aimed to present results from the field in the form of a correlation between Arabic language motivation and Arabic language competence of Islamic University students.This research was carried out at one of the Islamic campuses in South Sumatra which currently continued to exist in the development of foreign languages, one of which is Arabic, namely UIN Raden Fatah Palembang.Arabic language lectures on this campus certainly have had ups and downs for a long time, both in terms of increasing the teaching materials used, reducing learning credits and strengthening Arabic which was carried out at the beginning of the semester in the form of intensive Arabic, but all this cannot yet show that Arabic language learning on this campus has increased significantly.Hence, it was expected to explore the motivational conditions of students who have been affected by COVID-19 pandemic and currently they became university students who study Arabic offline.
In this research, the data were taken from tests to test students' Arabic language competence and questionnaires containing students' motivation in learning Arabic.The multiple choice ability tests consist of 10 questions with 4 options related to students' Arabic language competency, while the motivation questionnaire consists of 15 questions related to students' motivation in learning Arabic.The answer options consist of 5 choices, namely strongly agree, agree, unsure, disagree and strongly disagree.These two data collection instruments were created by researchers with several indicators.The instruments in the motivation questionnaire consist of questions regarding economic motivation regarding the goals to go abroad, whether traveling, working or merely studying about world developments, becoming a teacher and becoming a competitive alumnus and others.Then, the questions related to religious motivation are in numbers 4 and 7.Meanwhile, the questions related to the motivation to learn more about Arabic in numbers 9, 10, 14 and 15 and the perception of the Arabic language are in questions no.11, 12, and 13.Meanwhile, in the language competency test instrument, several items were included such as questions about the jumlah fi'liyah and jumlah ismiyah, both in terms of the correct vocabulary to complete the sentence or the correct form of harokat in the sentence.The form of validity and reliability testing for tests and questionnaires in this research is in the reliability test, a figure of 0.805 was obtained for the motivation variable.Meanwhile, the validity of each question is as follows: Based on this table, it can be stated that all question items were declared valid.
Meanwhile, the competency variable obtained a reliability value of 0.405.Meanwhile, the validity of the 10 questions to the sample is as follows:  Based on this table, it can be seen that this sample was taken from all of first semester of education faculty students, which is one of the faculties that accepts the most students in each academic year.This sample selection was determined at FITK (Faculty of Tarbiyah and Education) because apart from having the largest number of students, the level of diversity in students' educational backgrounds is also high because students are not only dominated by students who come from Islamic education units but also come from general education, this diversity is the highlight in this research from the perspective of motivation and language competence.

Results and Discussion
Based on descriptive statistics, the maximum value obtained is 75, the minimum value is 31, the range is 44 and the sum is 69,326, the mean is 57.15 and the standard deviation is 7.699.As for the competency variable, the maximum value obtained is 100, the minimum value is 0, the range is 100 and the sum is 60,680, the mean is 50.02 and the standard deviation is 18.032.Based on the table above, these two research data have a deviation value from linearity of 0.857 while the sig value is higher than 0.05, so it can be concluded that there is a significant linear relationship between motivation and competency variables.After that, it was continued with the correlation test with the following results: Based on the table above, it can be seen that both data have a correlation significance value of 0.129.If it is compared with the r-table, the correlation level is higher than the r-table (0.062), while the probability sig level is 0.000, which is a value lower than 0.05, this means that there is a significant correlation between language learning motivation.and language competence even though the correlation level is very low.Based on the table, this figure shows that the correlation level between motivation and competence when compared to 0.05 is lower, meaning that both have a positive and significant relationship between motivation and Arabic language competence.This shows that Ha is accepted and Ho is rejected.The Correlation Coefficient obtained is 1.7%, so 1.7% is the contribution of motivation to student language competence, meaning that if the level of motivation increases by one stage, then the level of competence will increase by around 32.74.To determine the differences in the variations in the samples taken, it was continued to the univariate test with the following results: Based on the table above, the source of variation in the form of the corrected model is the student group which is divided into gender classification and study program.
The F value for sources of variation between groups is 1.291 and significant at 0.02.F for the interaction between study program and gender is 0.000, F for the gender difference is 0.941 with a sig of 0.541 while the study program difference is 7.333 with a sig of 0.007.From these results it can be seen that the gender difference test is 0.581 > 0.05, so there is no difference in competence in terms of gender.Meanwhile, in terms of study program, 0.007 <0.05, there are differences in the competencies of each study program.Meanwhile, if study program and gender interact, a significance of 0.000 is obtained, which shows that there are differences between male students and female students who come from science and religion study programs.
During the pandemic, many things have changed, including the learning atmosphere obtained by students.The percentage of questionnaire results regarding students' motivation in Arabic learning after experiencing online and blended learning shows that the motivation of students who have lost through the COVID-19 transition period was still relatively high because for economic-oriented motivation.This can be seen from the number of students who chose the items strongly agree and agree.
However, the motivation item for becoming an Arabic language teacher did not reach 40% even though students from the Islamic Education and Arabic Education study programs dominated the sample from this study.The next thing identified was the identification that Arabic vocabulary was still very difficult to understand, so students had to try to find additional skills outside campus.This shows that students, despite all the conditions that befall them, still try to continue learning Arabic.In general, it can be stated that students have a high level of motivation in learning Arabic.
From the results of existing competency tests, it can be seen that the Arabic language competency mastered by students was still at a high level because there are 40.64% of students who are able to master mufrodat and qowaid at a very high and high level, as for questions, the level of correctness in answering the questions can be seen through 6 questions consisting of: (1) From the questions about fiil madhi, 67.3% of students answered correctly.32.7% students answered incorrectly by choosing the meaning of the verb that shows fiil mudhori', amr and nahyi.(2) From the questions about fi'il mudhori', 53.1% of students answered correctly and the rest answered incorrectly by choosing fiil madhi, amr and nahyi.(3) From the question number 6 which was related to arranging words into sentences, 59.6% of students answered correctly.( 4) From the question about personal pronouns, 82.5% of students answered correctly.( 5) From the question about the demonstrative word question, 53.5% of students answered correctly.(6) From the question about the conversation example questions, 72.3% of students answered correctly.Meanwhile, in the next question which consisted of applying the position of words in a sentence, students who answered correctly did not achieve a score of 50%.(7) From the question about jumlah fi'liyah, 44.6% answered correctly and the rest answered incorrectly in determining personal pronouns.(8) From the question about jumlah ismiyah, 15.6% answered correctly and the rest answered incorrectly.( 9) From the question number 5 related to arranging words into sentences, 43.7% of students answered correctly.(10) From the question about adjective examples, 25.9% of students answered correctly.
Based on the form of questions that are not mastered by students, it can be seen that the use of rules in sentence form is still not categorized in a good position, this of course happens because students who incidentally are secondary education students during COVID-19 and post COVID-19 are not yet very familiar with it.direct use of language, so that language is still in the learning stage, not at the stage of using words in sentence form or what is usually called language performance. 23The most difficult questions that can be seen from the high and low levels are questions in the form of jumlah ismiyah.Questions number 8 and 10 are about unfinished sentences (fill in the blank) and students are asked to answer the correct vocabulary to fill in the points.It is indicated that the large variety of language rules for forming non-verb sentences still mean that students do not understand the patterns well.
This research may not be able to represent all of the study programs in an Islamic institution, but at least these 1213 samples are able to become student icons who have gone through a process of 3 forms of learning, namely 100% non face-to-face meetings to limited face-to-face meetings, and turned to face-to-face meeting as occurred without abandoning several platforms used in the online learning process.When we have gone through the 3 learning phases, the research results showed that there was no significant difference between the Arabic language competence of male students and female students.
This is contrary to the research results of Fajarudin et al which stated that Arabic and English language competence in secondary education was influenced by gender. 24at research involved the students who were experiencing significant brain development, so that the language brain were still controlled by female students psychologically.However, as we get older and enter higher education, it might change due to various factors, including motivation.Students who study independently by using various learning models and websites or other supporting online media might have better Arabic language competence than others. 25Hence, the opportunity to maximize Arabic is available to anyone and any gender. 26is research concluded that regardless of the form of learning, whether online or offline, educators, both teachers and lecturers should be obliged to maximize the provision of motivation both externally and building students' internal motivation.
Eventhough face-to-face learning has been carried out with maximizing online learning patterns, Arabic language educators must be more responsive to changes in learning patterns.It is possible for students to apply or at least know how to apply language elements (vocabulary, phonetics and language rules).Despite the portion in the classroom decreases, but it is very possible to maximize it when students are outside the classroom.This is known as Tugas Mandiri (Individual Assignment) which is given to control the students for understanding the material personally.
As an impact of online learning, teachers must also continue to be front leaders to continue to improve in various aspects and start from an early age, although afterwards they must also be supported by facilities and infrastructure in the learning process. 27As research showed, children could actually optimize their learning by adjusting screen time patterns, which is currently popular among young children and adults. 28Children who are excited to learn Arabic must be initially from teachers who continually improved their abilities in the process of selecting material, delivering material, and evaluating not only the process but also the selection of media used in the process because the media will be the teacher's facilitator so that the material feels more interesting and enjoyable, even if this is a process of measuring ability, the teacher must create an interesting assessment process so that students still feel challenged to complete it well. 29th the proliferation of media used in the learning process and learning evaluation, it is expected that there will be no more students who are not able read Arabic, confused about changing verbs, and also students who never experienced studying Arabic since in Senior High School.Moreover, there were no adequate facilities and environment supports for students to speak Arabic. 30All of these problems can be overcome with media that can be accessed by students all the time.Not all of the media that were used as intermediaries for learning when COVID-19 was going on could still be maximized in Arabic language learning, such as WhatsApp media. 31This media is the media that only provides statements and does not intend to provide an injection of energy for students so it made students' learning motivation levels decreased.It means that WhatsApp cannot maximize student competence and performance in Arabic.
However, several media are claimed to not only be able to increase students' motivation and language performance but also be able to improve students' creative and critical thinking processes to learn Arabic such as YouTube, Facebook, Google, and Twitter.Even though they merely help the students in understanding stage because they tend to pay attention to what is presented there only.Thus, there is a lot of content that can be optimized students about Arabic learning.Furthermore, there are Quick Voice, Animation Creation, Google Doc, Wordpress, iMovie, YouTube, Creative Book, and Instagram which can be maximized to apply student language performance so that students feel challenged to express themselves in Arabic. 32variety of online media as an output solution for previous online learning still requires an environment that supports maximum use of this media, because this media is basically just an intermediary for delivering material and a form of student expression regarding the results of learning that has been carried out previously 33 without the support of this environmental system, so It is certain that students' motivation to learn and use Arabic will die.Apart from the environment, the software that must also be maximized in learning is the curriculum itself.Every institution that supports language development and students' ability to speak Arabic must have a well-designed curriculum, so the students are not limited for their educational background, every student can be motivated to learn and speak Arabic well.34 Lecturers who are able to combine a good curriculum, environment and teaching media are allegedly able to reduce the negative impact of online learning which is still carried over to this day.In the last 3 years, the students who underwent online learning processes during COVID-19 pandemic lectured allegedly have a poor attitude when studying.They tend to be lazy and do not have the initiative to be creative in learning.
The impact is that students tend to be not confident and reluctant to interact in the learning process and communicate with fellow students by using Arabic. 35

Conclusion
This research confirms that the Arabic learning motivation for education study program students has a positive and significant correlation even though students have been undergoing several types of learning, both online, blended and offline.There was also no difference found between the abilities of male students and female students when viewed from a gender perspective.Hence, the opportunity for male students to explore Arabic language competence was the same as the opportunity for female students.This could be caused by the lack of opportunities for women to explore their abilities in online learning so that the results of this learning was almost the same as men's competence in Arabic, which in fact is not supported psychologically to optimize the language.For this reason, both male students and female students who want to deepen their Arabic language can be directed to online tutorials on websites or software that can support them in learning, considering that the average time for studying Arabic at Islamic universities is that there is only one course at a time, namely 2 credits so it is very unlikely for students and female students to be able to continue communicating in Arabic, without a good support system from the campus, the motivation to speak Arabic will continue to decline on Islamic campuses.This research is of course still very limited in terms of studying gender differences in Arabic language performance.Therefore, a further research should be able to comprehensively explain gender differences and women's opportunities to speak Arabic better than men.

Acknowledgment
The author expresses the deepest gratitude to the lecturers and students of FITK 34 Haci Yilmaz, "The Quality of Arabic Language Teaching Curricula in Turkey in Accordance with the Turkish Qualifications Framework," International Online Journal of Education and Teaching 7, no. 4  (2020): 1644-1659.

Table 1 .
Validity Test of Motivation in Learning Arabic

Table 2 .
Validity Test of Competency in Learning Arabic The population in this research was the first year students at the Islamic university who were attending lectures for the first time at the campus in the academic year of 2022/2023.The sample in this study consisted of 1213 students.These students studied in the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training.This faculty consisted of 10 study programs, both religious-based and science-based study programs.The following is a description of the number of samples taken from each study program:

Table 3 .
Total of Samples from Each Study Programs

Table 4 .
Statistic DescriptiveBased on the description of the statistical data above, the research sample was classified into 5 groups, in the "Arabic Language Learning Motivation" variable, there were 157 students with very high motivation, 572 students with high motivation, 398 students with moderate motivation, 80 students with low motivation and 6 students with very low motivation.Meanwhile, in the "Arabic Language Competency" variable, there were 93 students with very high competency, 400 students with high competency, 241 students with medium competency, 362 students with low motivation and 117 students with very low.Next, it was continued with the normality test for the motivation variable with the following results:

Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Normal Test Summary
Table. 5. Normality Test of Motivation DataOne-Based on the test results above, it can be seen that the normality test results on competency data have a significance of 0.000.if this figure compared with 0.05 is certainly lower, this showed that the data is normal.The next test is a linearity test between competency data and motivation data with the following results:

Table 8 .
The Correlation of Motivation and Competency