Strategies of Students Learning Arabic as Foreign Language at Islamic Colleges in China

Arabic language is a common language of Arab nations and the language of the holy Qur'an. Nowadays, the number of Chinese students learning Arabic language has increased. Although the majority of these Chinese students are aiming to learn Arabic language as an additional language to their mother language, they need special learning styles and strategies to learn Arabic. This study aims to identify the strategies of students learning Arabic as a foreign language at Islamic colleges in China. A total of 238 students selected by random sampling were asked to complete questionnaire Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). The result showed that cognitive strategies were favored the most, with the majority of participants preferring these strategies. The main contribution of this study is helping Chinese students to learn Arabic language effectively and increase the awareness on language teachers on new learning strategies for Arabic language. In addition this study will help teachers in Chinese Islamic colleges to find out the right way to help Chinese Muslim students learn Arabic.