Motivational barriers faced by Imam Hatip secondary school students with low motivation to learn Arabic

The aim of the study is to reveal the motivational barriers faced by Imam Hatip middle school students with low motivation towards learning Arabic. The study was conducted using an explanatory sequential mixed research model. In the quantitative data collec-tion process, the "Motivation Scale for Learning Arabic (MSLA)" was used to uncover students' motivation levels and to detect the students with low motivation. As for the qualitative data collection process, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The population of the study involves 6th, 7th and 8th grade students studying in imam hatip middle schools in Istanbul in 2023-2024. The sample of the study comprises 434 students. Of the 434 students who filled out the questionnaire scale, 34 students with "negative" and "very negative" motivation and 9 Arabic language teachers offering courses to these students were selected as participants for the qualitative data collection. As a result of the quantitative analysis, students' motivation to learn Arabic was found to be moderate, "partially positive", and the type of motivation was found to be both intrinsic and extrinsic-instrumental motivation types. Students' motivation towards learning Arabic did not differ significantly according to their gender and educational level in all scales and sub-dimensions; however, it differed significantly according to Arabic language achievement levels. The is substantive difference was found only be-tween students with a score range of 0-49 and students with other score ranges. This difference is significant in favor of students with the other score range. As a result of the qualitative analysis conducted in order to reveal the motivational barriers, it was seen that Arabic language learners faced 14 different motivational barriers under intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Among these, the data indicated that the most frequently encountered motivational barriers by the students stemmed from intrinsic factors, and these were; respectively, lack of goal, low self-efficacy beliefs, difficulty in learning language skills, negative attitude towards the course/language learning and difficulty in cognitive perception. Overall, most of the motivational barriers unveiled in this study are in line with the motivational barriers reported in previous studies in the literature.