This study examines the development of Arabic rhetoric curricula in Malaysian religious secondary schools by analysing the textbooks prescribed for Form Four and Form Five students. It addresses the lack of specialised studies on recently developed rhetoric textbooks in Malaysia, despite the importance of bal?ghah in developing linguistic awareness, rhetorical appreciation, and analytical competence among non-native learners of Arabic. Using a descriptive-analytical content analysis approach, the study reviews the organisation of content, learning objectives, rhetorical concepts, textual selections, exercises, and pedagogical progression in the two textbooks. The findings indicate that the textbooks demonstrate clear curricular development in terms of organisation, reliance on Qur’anic and literary texts, and emphasis on rhetorical analysis, but they also remain strongly text-based, terminologically dense, and limited in interactive and communicative activities for Malaysian learners of Arabic as a foreign language. The study concludes that these curricula represent a serious attempt to modernise rhetoric instruction while preserving classical foundations, yet further revision is needed to enhance contextual adaptation, visual support, and learner-centred pedagogical application.
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Tahawi, A. M. A., Othman, M. I. H., & Awad, R. I. A. (2026). Developing Arabic Rhetoric Curricula in Malaysian Religious Secondary Schools: An Analytical Reading of Modern Textbooks. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 16(6), 1269–1274.
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