Exploring the application of Robert Slavin’s QAIT model in the teaching of Arabic reading skills at language course institution

Abstract

Background: The success of reading skill learning greatly depends on the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process, which involves quality, accuracy, motivation, and time management. Aims: This research aims to analyze the teaching of reading skills from the perspective of effective learning using the QAIT model, which includes quality, appropriateness, incentive, and time. Methods: This study employed a descriptive qualitative case study analyzed through Slavin’s perspective. The subjects consist of a teacher and eight placement-based beginner students at Madrasatul Alsun Sidoarjo, Indonesia. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation. The data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model, including data condensation, data presentation, and data verification. Results: The quality of reading skills instruction is characterized by structured and sequential teaching materials, which are further reinforced through question-answer exchanges, direct instruction methods, and the strategic use of concrete objects and visual media. This instructional design is appropriately tailored to learners' diverse needs, as texts are developed gradually in accordance with the input hypothesis (i+1), while differentiated instruction allows high-ability students to engage with entire texts and lower-ability peers to read at their respective proficiency levels. Furthermore, learning motivation is actively cultivated through the teacher's deliberate efforts to build students' readiness, introduce key vocabulary at the outset of each lesson, and deliver positive feedback as a form of reinforcement. Complementing these pedagogical strategies, time is managed effectively through a consistent 90-minute allocation per session, which is further supported by the provision of a substitute teacher to guarantee uninterrupted instructional continuity. Implications: The findings of this study indicate that the integration of material quality, strategy accuracy, learner motivation, and time management serves as an essential foundation for Arabic language learning that is more adaptive, contextual, and oriented toward students’ competency achievement.