MEASUREMENT VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE DERIVATIONAL WORD INSTRUMENT FOR THE MASTERY OF ARABIC MORPHOLOGY

Abstract

The Arabic morphology is more complex than that of other languages. This is attributed to the fact that Arabic morphology system is based on root and multi-layered derivational processes. The identification of root letters in derivational words constitutes one of the difficulties for Arabic learners. Therefore, this study reports the construct validity and reliability of a pilot instrument for measuring the difficulty of internal structure of Arabic derivational words. This study uses quantitative approaches. Internal Structure of Arabic Derivational Word Test (USDAi) consists of 130 items designed based on the Internal Structure of Word Theory, Paradigmatic Theory and the concept of Arabic derivation. Purposive sampling was employed to select the sample. 45 Arabic learners from Selangor International Islamic University College (KUIS) were selected as respondents. Data were analyzed using Rasch Model. Person reliability is 0.95 (α=0.97) and person separation is 4.33. Item reliability is 0.87, item separation is 2.65 and mean infit is 0.97. All 130 items in USDAi are productive for measuring the internal structure of Arabic derivational words. This study also has implications for the overall learning of Arabic morphology so that the mastery of the internal structure of the word needs to be mastered by students.