DALILA as an Arabic Language Ecosystem: Intensive Holiday Immersion, Communicative Competence and Linguistic Environment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29240/jba.v10i2.16903Keywords:
Arabic immersion, linguistic environment, communicative language teaching, intensive holiday program, Pesantren (Islamic Boarding Schools)Abstract
Arabic instruction in many Indonesian pesantren traditionally emphasizes textual and grammatical mastery over functional communicative competence. Short, holiday-based immersion formats designed to address this existing gap have received little systematic academic attention. This article examines DALILA (Daurah Arabiyyah Liburan Sekolah), an intensive 14-day holiday Arabic immersion program designed by the Language Center of Institut Pesantren Mathali’ul Falah (IPMAFA) and implemented at Pondok Pesantren Al Hamidiyyah Bulumanis, Pati, Central Java. This study explores how the program constructs a temporary bi’ah lughawiyyah, successfully integrates communicative teaching with pesantren culture, supports targeted vocabulary acquisition, and serves as a transferable educational model. Using a comprehensive qualitative descriptive-analytical approach, data were gathered through non-participant observation, thorough analysis of program documents and assessment records, content analysis of learning modules, and semi-structured interviews with host-institution leaders, participating female teachers (ustadzah), and 15 female students (santriwati). Program records covering 431 santriwati and approximately 100 ustadzah revealed mean post-test scores of 79.7 for mufradat and 82.1 for kalam. Participant accounts confirmed an engaging and enjoyable learning experience marked by significant progress. Specifically, the santriwati mastered 120 mufradat and successfully applied them in daily kalam, while the ustadzah mastered 70 operational sentences crucially needed for teaching and guiding the santriwati. The research findings demonstrate that DALILA functions as a robust, institution-wide language ecosystem built upon three mutually reinforcing pedagogical layers: a dual-track structure that positions teachers as co-learners, a module-driven sequence integrating fundamental language skills with contextualized nahwu-sharaf, and interactive formats (hiwar, al’ab lughawiyyah, funun al-kalam) culminating in public performance. This study conceptualizes this programmatic configuration as culturally adaptive communicative language teaching. Although the lack of retained pretest data restricts the statistical measurement of improvement, post-test results and qualitative reports clearly evidence tangible communicative advancement. These findings offer transformative, transferable insights for educational institutions designing short-term language immersion programs.
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