Sociolinguistic Influences on Metalinguistic Competence among Teachers of Arabic in Indonesia

Abstract

This study analyzes how sociolinguistic factors age, gender, and educational background shape the metalinguistic competence of Arabic language teachers in Jombang District, East Java. Using a quantitative correlational design, data from 19 teachers were examined across three domains: istima’ or listening, tarakib or grammar, and qiro’ah or reading. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a moderate positive relationship between age and overall metalinguistic competence (r = 0.4979), indicating that older teachers tend to demonstrate higher linguistic awareness. A Two-Sample t-Test showed no significant gender difference (p = 0.333), confirming that male and female teachers perform at comparable levels. Descriptive comparisons across educational backgrounds revealed domain-specific strengths. Teachers with course based training achieved the highest scores in listening or istima’, suggesting that targeted instruction may enhance listening proficiency. In grammar or tarakib, teachers from university and islamic boarding school performed slightly higher than course, reflecting shared emphases on grammatical mastery. For reading or qiro’ah, university and islamic boarding school demonstrated identical mean scores, marginally exceeding Islamic boarding school, implying that reading competence may rely more on instructional approach than institutional type. Overall, age emerged as the most meaningful predictor of metalinguistic competence, while gender and educational background contributed only minor variations. These findings highlight the importance of cognitive maturity and focused linguistic instruction in strengthening teachers’ metalinguistic awareness.