Auditorium of Prof. Dr. Suwito, MA SPs UIN Jakarta, SPs NEWS - The Graduate School (SPs) of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta held the 2836th Thesis Exam at the SPs Theater Room of UIN Jakarta on Thursday, August 20, 2026 with Supriadin candidates.

Supriadin is a student of the Master of Islamic Studies program with a Concentration in Arabic Language Education. Supriadin presented the results of his research which explored the dynamics of foreign language learning in transformative Islamic educational institutions through a thesis entitled "Implementation of Arabic Language Learning in Darunnajah Islamic Boarding School Jakarta and Asshiddiqiyah Islamic Boarding School Jakarta (Comparative Study of al-Madkhal al-Ittiṣālī Typology on Kalām and Kitābah Skills)".

The main focus of Supriadin's research is to unpack the dynamics, similarities, differences, and uniqueness of the application of al-madkhal al-ittiṣālī or communicative approach. He highlighted specifically the development of speaking (kalām) and writing (kitābah) skills of 7th grade MTs students in two well-known modern Islamic boarding schools in the capital city, namely the Darunnajah Islamic Boarding School and the Asshiddiqiyah Islamic Boarding School.

This qualitative research with a comparative typological design was explored through a series of field observations, documentation studies, and in-depth interviews with the leaders of the boarding school, teaching staff, and students. From the data collection process, Supriadin found that these two educational institutions built different Arabic learning typologies based on their respective methodological traditions.

The Darunnajah Islamic Boarding School represents a natural communicative typology. Here, the direct method (al-ṭ arīqah al-mubāsharah) is closely combined with the formation of a strong linguistic environment (bī'ah lughawiyyah). This pattern encourages students to hone  their kalām and kitābah  skills spontaneously and naturally in their daily lives.

It is different from the Asshiddiqiyah Islamic Boarding School which carries a communicative-structural typology. This pesantren actually makes the grammatical method (al-ṭ arīqah al-qawā'id) the main foundation. Solid grammar is used as the initial foothold before students are directed to develop communication skills more systematically.

These two learning models have their own challenges and opportunities that ultimately form unique characteristics, in harmony with the character of their respective pesantren environments. Interestingly, these findings provide a new perspective that breaks down common assumptions in the study of Arabic language teaching.

So far, many researchers have positioned the communicative approach and the structural approach as two dichotomous contradictory things. However, Supriadin's research actually proves that the relationship between the two is very flexible. The communicative approach has been proven to be adaptive and can be combined with direct methods and grammatical methods, resulting in a variety of highly contextual learning models.

Supriadin rejects the views of researchers such as Mr. Simhachalam (2015) and Javid Babayev (2023) who consider the communicative approach as a single method that is rigid and cannot be compromised. He emphasized that the success of the communicative approach is not measured by its theoretical purity alone, but by its ability to accommodate the characteristics of the institution, learning culture, and the real needs of students.

Supriadin successfully defended his thesis under the guidance of Dr. Muhbib, M.Ag, and was tested in front of a board of examiners consisting of Prof. Dr. Yusuf Rahman, MA, Dr. Muhbib, M.Ag, Dr. Erta Mahyudin, M.Pd.I, Dr. Achmad Fudhaili, M.Pd.

After paying attention to the thesis writing, the comments of the examiner team and the candidate's answers, the examiner team determined that Supriadin graduated with the predicate of Very Satisfactory. Supriadin is the 2836th Master in the field of Islamic Studies, in the Master's program of the Graduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. (Jay A)