Project-Based Learning Using Animation Media to Enhance Arabic Speaking Skills in Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

Background: Arabic language learning at the university level frequently encounters persistent challenges in cultivating authentic communicative competence due to the sustained reliance on monotonous instructional methods. Although the integration of audio-visual media has been extensively researched within applied linguistics, empirical studies exploring the independent production of animated videos by university students as a mechanism for cognitive stimulation regarding creativity and speaking proficiency remain critically limited. Purpose: This research aims to investigate the specific empirical effects of a Project-Based Learning (PjBL) strategy, directly integrated with animated digital video production, on the concurrent development of students' creativity and their Arabic speaking skills (maharah al-kalam). Methods: Employing a robust quasi-experimental research design, this study engaged a population of 127 university students enrolled in the Islamic Primary Education Teacher (PGMI) program. The participants were divided into an experimental cohort (n=58) subjected to the PjBL animated video intervention, and a control cohort (n=69) receiving traditional instruction. Data were rigorously collected utilizing a validated creativity assessment rubric alongside a structured speaking performance test. Results: Independent samples t-test statistical analyses revealed that the PjBL strategy coupled with animated video production significantly enhanced student creativity, t(58)=3.42, p<0.01, d=0.88, as well as their Arabic speaking competence, t(58)=2.95, p<0.01, d=0.76. The reported Cohen’s d effect size values demonstrate that the intervention possessed a large, highly substantial, and practically significant impact on accelerating both measured dependent variables. Conclusions: The findings provide definitive empirical evidence that actively transforming students from media consumers into independent producers of digital content is an exceptionally effective instructional strategy. This multimedia-driven PjBL approach proves to be a powerful catalyst for accelerating foreign language communicative competencies and fostering creative faculties essential in the modern digital educational era.