_______________________________________________ International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology Vol. 3, No. 2, December 2022 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18196/ijiep.v3i2.15248 Fear of COVID-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur Mohd Ieruwan Mohamed Mokhtar International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia *Corresponding email: iewan83@gmail.com Citation: Mokhtar, M. I. M. (2022). Fear of COVID-19 and anxiety in the arabic language learners in Kuala Lumpur. International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 130-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.18196/ijiep.v3i2.15248 A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article History Received : 28/06/2022 Revised : 12/09/2022 Accepted : 03/10/2022 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic contributed to distress and affected mental health in many sectors, including education, which triggered fear and anxiety among learners and educators. Therefore, this research aimed to perceive mental health issues such as fear, stress, and anxiety during the pandemic, especially among learners aged between 15 to 25 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The questionnaire consisted of seven questions related to the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). The respondents were invited to participate via social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Emails, and Facebook. The link to the Google form was given to them to allow them to join the survey. Three hundred twenty-four respondents from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, participated in this survey to show their anxiety levels during this pandemic. The findings showed that the level of fear of COVID-19 was high and significant by using SPSS version 26. It also constructed mental health issues among the learners, decreasing their performance in education. This research is applicable to distinguish and describe the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, which influences learners’ mental health. The findings also revealed that fear and anxiety were high and affected students’ performance. Keywords: Fear, Anxiety, Arabic Language, Mental Health, COVID-19. Copyright © 2022 IJIEP This work is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International license. http://dx.doi.org/10.18196/ijiep.v3i2.15248 mailto:iewan83@gmail.com http://dx.doi.org/10.18196/ijiep.v3i2.15248 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 131 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 INTRODUCTION Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a newly discovered in late 2019. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily via droplets of saliva or release from the nose after infecting individual coughs or sneezes; hence, practicing respiratory etiquettes such as by coughing into a flexed elbow and following the prescribed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and physical distancing is essential (World Health Organization, 2020). Moreover, the spread of COVID-19 from inhalation of the virus in the air could happen at distances greater than six feet. Particles from an infected person can travel throughout an entire room or indoor space. The particles can also remain in the air after a person has left the room – they can persist airborne for hours in some cases (United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), 2021). One of the global challenges worldwide is handling and managing new infectious diseases that still have no suitable one-for-all solution vaccine to stop the infection (Ahorsu et al., 2020). Besides, Wang et al. (2020) reported in their research that the most common symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, dry cough, myalgia, and dyspnea, could last within 2 to 14 days, and some cases are categorized as long COVID-19 patients (World Health Organization (WHO) [YouTube], 2021). However, many researchers, such as Dong et al. (2020), claimed that the recent treatment for COVID-19 is focused on infection control, effective vaccine, and treatment cure rate. According to (Izhar et al., 2021), the COVID-19 explosion affected many sectors in Malaysia, including population health, economy, social life, and education. Furthermore, Dhawan (2020) reported that many educational institutions had taken the initiative to break the chain of the outbreak of COVID-19 by discontinuing in-school teaching and learning. In addition, according to the findings in the research, half the world’s students are still affected by school closures, and over 100 million children will fall below the literacy in reading because of the health crisis. Hence, the reduced or zero physical interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to mental health issues among the learners, such as fear, anxiety, and worry (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly affected psychological aspects as mental health issues increased immediately, including the commission of suicide, public stigmatization, and discrimination. Moreover, the high level of fear involves individuals’ state of mind as most people initially cannot think rationally and clearly when reacting to COVID-19. Furthermore, many researchers, such as Bharatharaj et al. (2021) and (Rajkumar, 2020), claimed that COVID-19 influences anxiety and depression symptoms such as stress and insomnia. Besides, (Harper et al. 2020; Knipe et al., 2020; Lu et al., 2020; Winter et al., 2020) revealed that the level of COVID-19 fear increased dramatically in various population sectors such as learners, educators, and healthcare professionals, which was similar to previous viral epidemics. According to Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 132 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 data Ministry of Education Malaysia (2020), in Malaysia itself, the Ministry of Education was ordered to close 142 schools affected by COVID-19 because it was located under the red zone. Thus, fear of COVID-19 is connected to mental health issues contributing to anxiety among learners, including Arabic language learners in Malaysia. Arabic Language in Malaysia The Arabic language has become one of the five most spoken languages in the world. Malaysia is among the countries where the Arabic language is widely taught in primary and secondary schools as an elective subject up to universities (Mohd Husni et al., 2021) (Mohamed Mokhtar & Che Haron, 2020). There is an everyday use of the Arabic language in the mass media of Malaysia as it constantly relates to religious content, mainly Islamic (Mohd Husni et al., 2021). Furthermore, (Rahmah Ahmad H. et al., 2022) reported 7 thousand students majoring in Arabic Studies in Malaysia, 232 million Arabic native speakers, and 260 Arabic speakers worldwide. Arab language is one of the most challenging languages listed by UNESCO (Mohamed Mokhtar, 2020). Anxiety exists during the classroom learning process, especially in speaking skills, because it is a foreign language and they are not native speakers (Mohamed Mokhtar & Che Haron, 2021). Moreover, due to the difficulty for the learner in mastering the language, many studies in Malaysia, such as (Abdul Razif et al., 2016; Hasnurol, 2010; Izzah Syakirah & Rosni, 2020; Saifudin, 2002; Siti Aisyah & Zamri, 2016; Zainur Rijal et al., 2016) reported the findings that Malaysian students only have a moderate Arabic vocabulary size which does not reach a satisfactory level. Ismail et al. (2020) reported the results to indicate that Arabic-speaking anxiety among secondary religious school students in Malaysia is moderately high. Researchers such as Mokhtar (2021) said that Arabic is the most difficult foreign language and triggers anxiety among learners, especially in speaking skills. Nevertheless, according to (Haron, 2021), many findings showed that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has caused a significant transformation in the education system entire world. Fear, Anxiety, and Mental Health Anxiety is one of the mental health issues related to COVID-19. Pressure is generally understood as the human body’s natural reaction to stress. It is a feeling of fear or apprehension and worries about what is to come. For instance, during the first day of school, an interview session or giving a speech may cause most people to feel worried, fearful, and nervous (Holland, 2020). The finding showed that Malaysian people changed their behavior during the pandemic, which started with panic buying, worry, stress, fear, and anxiety during the Movement Control Order (MCO) (Boon Yau et al., 2020). Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 133 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 Similarly, many findings reported, such as (Al-Awadhi et al. 2020; Laing 2020), showed that the negative impact of the COVID-19 disease pandemic affects not only worldwide economics but includes the mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and fear, which affect society regardless of different ages and cultural backgrounds (Liu et al. 2020; Rajkumar 2020). Furthermore, there are research findings (Cowan, 2020; Huang & Zhao, 2020; Qiu et al., 2020; Sønderskov, Dinesen, Santini, & Østergaard, 2020; Stankovska, Memedi, & Dimitrovski, 2020; C. Wang et al., 2020; Y. Wang, Di, Ye, & Wei, 2020; Zhang et al., 2020) that reported the mental health issues such as the levels in depression, anxiety, general stress, and posttraumatic stress related to COVID-19 are increased gradually. The findings reported that people below the 25-year-old and females have significantly higher fear of COVID-19, depression, anxiety, and stress. Then, single people have higher depression levels (Kassim et al., 2021). Moreover, fear is rising and affecting mental health, especially concerning education and access to medication (Knipe et al., 2020). Thus, COVID-19 changed education methodology during and after the pandemic. It triggered the stress level among the learners and educators to adopt a new learning and teaching style during the pandemic (Zhu & Liu, 2020). The finding showed that fear exists and is significant while facing the pandemic, triggering mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. COVID-19 Pandemic COVID-19, a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2) outbreak, rose in December 2019 from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, and spread to the rest of the world. The pandemic affected many sectors, such as education, economics, and, the worst, public health (Elengoe, 2020). COVID-19 is so dangerous and influenced many countries, namely 215 countries, and until March 2022, the number of cases was more than 442 million. Moreover, according to the data from WHO, 6,001,844 people died from the pandemic worldwide (Worldometers, 2022). Besides, according to (World Health Organization (WHO), 2021), the virus SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19, can change over time, is mutant, and become many variants, for instant, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron, which can adapt based on the change of environment and countries. Besides, fear of COVID-19 related to anxiety and mental health issues, which is significant in the United States of America, which the sample size (n = 10,368) reported increased dramatically based on high location risk or a red zone based on the findings (Fitzpatrick et al., 2020). Moreover, Daniel (2020), the COVID- 19 pandemic has disrupted the learning and teaching process among learners and educators because it contributes to neglecting the content of education and material in courses. Therefore, the aim of the study was first to find out if there was any fear of COVID-19 during this pandemic among Arabic learners. The second was to determine the fear of COVID-19 among Arabic learners, and the Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 134 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 third was to determine whether girls were more afraid of COVID-19 than male students. METHODS The research instrument used the questionnaires developed by Ahorsu (Ahorsu et al., 2020), called the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), which has seven constructed and reliable items. Other researchers use FCV-19S to explore the phenomenon of fear facing the pandemic, such as (Chi et al., 2021). The study reported that the FCV-19S had high internal consistency in handling the research (Winter et al., 2020). This study’s total number of participants is 324, randomly selected by purposive sampling based on age and gender categories. The respondents are learners who study Arabic Languages as a foreign language at secondary schools and represent the Kuala Lumpur population. The reliability (r) value is more than 0.9, which is 0.906, which is strong, as mentioned in Table 3.1. It also related to the research objective to show that a mighty instrument associated with the fear of the COVID-19 phenomenon exists among Arabic Language learners during the pandemic. The respondents received the Google Form link to answer the questionnaires sent to WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and emails. Table 1. Reliability (r) Statistics Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardised Items N of Items 0.906 0.906 7 Source: SPSS Data Analysis RESULT AND DISCUSSION The study involved 324 students who learned Arabic as a foreign language in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, either in secondary schools or higher education institutions. The nominal data is described easily in Tables 4.1 and 4.2 below based on the results. Source: SPSS Data Analysis Based on the study, male students as participants are 39.8 percent, and female students 60.2 percent. Female students are higher than male students in the study because they are the majority population in the education area. Table 2. Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Male 129 39.8 39.8 39.8 Female 195 60.2 60.2 100.0 Total 324 100.0 100.0 Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 135 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 Table 3. Age Categories Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Group 1 (15 – 18) 147 45.4 45.4 45.4 Group 2 (19 – 25) 177 54.6 54.6 100.0 Total 324 100.0 100.0 Source: SPSS Data Analysis Moreover, Table 4.2 displays the age categories in the study joined as participants in the research survey. The age can be understood easily in two age groups to explain the level of education among the learners. Group one is secondary school learners, who are 45.4 percent, and group 2 is Higher Education Institution learners, 54.6 percent. Furthermore, the findings show that fear of COVID-19 has existed because the mean and standard deviation (SD) value shows that phenomenon among the learners and is significant, as seen clearly in Table 4.3 below. Based on the instruments, the mean value for items 1, 2, 3, and 5 explains the respondents’ real feelings about the pandemic. Besides, the value for mean in items 3, 6, and 7 shows the standard curve. The normal curve explains that the fear of COVID-19 has happened among the learners. The SD value for seven items has described the data spread very widely and is valid to show the phenomenon in the study because the value SD is more than 1. Table 4. Item Statistics for Mean and Standard Deviation (SD) Mean Std. Deviation N 1. I am most afraid of Corona 4.2346 .95757 324 2. It makes me uncomfortable to think about Corona 4.0062 1.03497 324 3. My hands become clammy when I think about Corona 2.9383 1.29391 324 4. I am afraid of losing my life because of Corona 3.9969 1.10585 324 5. When I watch news and stories about Corona on social media, I become nervous or anxious. 3.5062 1.25037 324 6. I cannot sleep because I’m worrying about getting Corona. 2.5648 1.27082 324 7. My heart races or palpitates when I think about getting Corona. 2.8302 1.29259 324 Source: SPSS Data Analysis Fear of COVID-19 among the Arabic Language learners Based on the instrument FCV-19S, seven items explain the fear of COVID-19, and 80.2% of respondents agree with the statement item 1, “I am most afraid of Corona.” The findings data is obvious to perceive fear among the learners. Moreover, the findings support item 2, in which 72.5% of respondents agree, “It makes me uncomfortable to think about Corona.” Besides, item 4 is the statement, “I am afraid of losing my life because of Corona,” chosen by respondents as 67.9% agree. Lastly, item 6 supports it because 48.8%of respondents agree with the statement, “I cannot sleep because I’m worrying about getting Corona.” Hence, the findings clearly show that fear of COVID-19 among Arabic language learners is significant while facing this pandemic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 136 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 The Level of Fear of COVID-19 among the Arabic Language learners The level of fear of COVID-19 is reported in Table 5.2.1. below clearly. The findings show that the level of feeling fear of COVID-19 is significant among Arabic language learners. Based on the percentage displayed in table 5.2.1, item number 1, the value percentage is 80.2%, indicating that phenomenon among the learners who study Arabic as a foreign language. Many respondents agree, “I am most afraid of Corona.” The level of fear is supported by item 2, item 4, item 5, and item 6 which the value percentages for the highest category are more than 40%. Hence, the results show that the respondents’ fear of COVID-19 is significant. Table 5: Item Statistics for Percentage Level of feeling Fear COVID-19 Highest Average Lowest Item 1 80.2 14.5 5.3 Item 2 72.5 17.9 9.6 Item 3 36.1 31.8 32.1 Item 4 67.9 23.1 9 Item 5 53.7 24.1 22.2 Item 6 48.8 28.4 22.8 Item 7 42 25 33 Source: SPSS Data Analysis Females have more fear of COVID-19 than male learners The researcher used the independent T-test in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26 to show which sex groups are more scared of COVID- 19. Many researchers have utilized SPSS for complex statistical data analysis purposes. The findings via independent samples T-test explain no significant difference between the two groups because the p-value is higher than 0.005. The conclusion reveals no significant difference between the female and male groups in fear of COVID-19 because the p-value is 0.0068. Thus, the fear level between females and males is similar and significant among 324 respondents. It is interesting to pay attention to the results of this study if it relates to the previous results on anxiety between men and women. The study found no significant difference in anxiety between male athletes and female athletes in the sample of this study, as evidenced by a significance value of 1,000 (p>0.05) Nurdiansyah, E. W., & Jannah, M. (2021). However, several other cases showed different results. A study that examined the difference in stress between men and women showed that the prevalence of stress among yoga participants in Denpasar was 40%. Most of the research subjects were female (72.2%), and the average age was 37. There were differences in stress levels between men and women in yoga participants in Denpasar (p = 0.000). Likewise, what was found in research related to fear related to surgery? Data analysis used statistical tests, namely independent sample T-Test. The results showed that male respondents were not anxious (40%), had mild anxiety (26.67%), and moderate anxiety Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 137 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 (33.33%), while female respondents showed no anxiety (23.53%), had mild (17.65%), moderate anxiety (35.29%), severe anxiety (23.53%). Based on the statistical test, the P-value of 0.024 means that H0 was rejected and Ha was accepted, meaning that there is a difference in the level of anxiety between male and female patients before laparotomy (Erawan, W., Opod, H., & Pali, C. (2013). The fear, when observed in several events, showed different results. There are times when women are more afraid than men and vice versa. Sometimes, men are more afraid than women. CONCLUSION The fear of COVID-19 among Arabic learners as a foreign language exists and is significant. The findings reported that anxiety and fear were the most dominant among the learners. The level of feeling fear between a female and male group of learners was similar and had no significant difference between them. The fear is related to mental health issues that can trigger anxiety, which is expected if it happens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators and policymakers must understand the phenomenon and work together to reduce fear among the learners because it is crucial and related to students’ performance. The mental health issue recently increased dramatically because of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. REFERENCES Ahorsu, D. K., Lin, C. Y., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2020). The fear of COVID-19 scale: Development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 1537–1545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8 Al-Awadhi, A. M., Alsaifi, K., Al-Awadhi, A., & Alhammadi, S. (2020). Death and contagious infectious diseases: Impact of the COVID-19 virus on stock market returns. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 27, 100326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2020.100326 American Library Association (ALA). (n.d.). COVID Live - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer. Worldometer. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Bharatharaj, J., Alyami, M., Henning, M. A., Alyami, H., & Krägeloh, C. U. (2021). Tamil version of the fear of COVID-19 scale. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 2448–2459. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021- 00525-y https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2020.100326 https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00525-y https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00525-y Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 138 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 Boon Yau, E. K., Tze Ping, N. P., Shoesmith, W. D., James, S., Nor Hadi, N. M., & Jiann Lin, L. (2020). The behaviour changes in response to COVID-19 pandemic within Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, 27(2), 45– 50. https://doi.org/10.21315/mjms2020.27.2.5 Chi, X., Chen, S., Chen, Y., Chen, D., Yu, Q., Guo, T., Cao, Q., Zheng, X., Huang, S., Hossain, M. M., Stubbs, B., Yeung, A., & Zou, L. (2021). Psychometric Evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale Among Chinese Population. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 1273–1288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00441-7 Daniel, S. J. (2020). Education and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prospects, 49(91–96). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09464-3 Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 49(1), 5–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520934018 Dong, L., Hu, S., & Gao, J. (2020). Discovering drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics, 14(1), 58–60. https://doi.org/10.5582/ddt.2020.01012 Elengoe, A. (2020). COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia. Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives, 11(3), 93–100. https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.3.08 Erawan, W., Opod, H., & Pali, C. (2013). Perbedaan tingkat kecemasan antara pasien laki-laki dan perempuan pada pre operasi laparatomi di RSUP. Prof. Dr. RD Kandou Manado. eBiomedik, 1(1), 642-645. https://doi.org/10.35790/ebm.v1i1.4612 Fitzpatrick, K. M., Harris, C., & Drawve, G. (2020). Fear of COVID-19 and the mental health consequences in America. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S17–S21. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000924 Haron, S. C. (2021). Online teaching and learning: Are we doing it right? IIUM Journal of Educational Studies, 9(2), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.31436/ijes.v9i2.369 Harper, C. A., Satchell, L. P., Fido, D., & Latzman, R. D. (2020). Functional fear predicts public health compliance in the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19(5), 1875–1888. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00281-5 https://doi.org/10.21315/mjms2020.27.2.5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00441-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09464-3 https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520934018 https://doi.org/10.5582/ddt.2020.01012 https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.3.08 https://doi.org/10.35790/ebm.v1i1.4612 https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000924 https://doi.org/10.31436/ijes.v9i2.369 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00281-5 Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 139 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 Holland, K. (2020, September 3). Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety#:%7E:text=Anxiety%20is% 20your%20body’s%20natural,to%20feel%20fearful%20and%20nervous. Ismail, Z., Rasit, N., Azhar Zailaini, M., & Hussin, Z. (2020). Relationship between arabic language speaking anxiety and motivation among religious secondary school students in Malaysia. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 8(2), 116–123. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.82e14 Izhar, N. A., Al-Dheleai, Y. M., & Ishak, N. A. (2021). Education continuation strategies during COVID-19 in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(4), 1423–1436. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i4/9840 Kassim, M. A. M., Pang, N. T. P., Mohamed, N. H., Kamu, A., Ho, C. M., Ayu, F., Rahim, S. S. S. A., Omar, A., & Jeffree, M. S. (2021). Relationship between fear of COVID-19, psychopathology and sociodemographic variables in Malaysian population. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 1303–1310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00444-4 Knipe, D., Evans, H., Marchant, A., Gunnell, D., & John, A. (2020). Mapping population mental health concerns related to COVID-19 and the consequences of physical distancing: a Google trends analysis. Wellcome Open Research, 5, 82. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15870.1 Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2020, October 7). KPM - Kenyataan Media: Senarai sekolah yang ditutup di zon merah seluruh negara. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.moe.gov.my/covid-19/kenyataan-media/km- senarai-sekolah-yang-ditutup-di-zon-merah-seluruh-negara-2 Mohamed Mokhtar, M. I. (2020). Lower secondary students’ arabic speaking anxiety: A foreign language literacy perspective. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 8(4), 33. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.8n.4p.33 Mohamed Mokhtar, M. I., & Che Haron, S. (2020). A review of the factors of anxiety in speaking arabic language and the 4th industrial revolution. Journal of Islamic Educational Research (JIER), 5, 1–10. http://jice.um.edu.my/index.php/JIER/article/view/26143 Mohamed Mokhtar, M. I., & Che Haron, S. (2021). Are arabic language learners anxious to speak arabic?. American Journal of Sciences and Engineering Research, 4(2), 43–49. https://www.iarjournals.com/upload/424349.pdf https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety#:%7E:text=Anxiety%20is%20your%20body’s%20natural,to%20feel%20fearful%20and%20nervous https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety#:%7E:text=Anxiety%20is%20your%20body’s%20natural,to%20feel%20fearful%20and%20nervous https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.82e14 http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i4/9840 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00444-4 https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15870.1 https://www.moe.gov.my/covid-19/kenyataan-media/km-senarai-sekolah-yang-ditutup-di-zon-merah-seluruh-negara-2 https://www.moe.gov.my/covid-19/kenyataan-media/km-senarai-sekolah-yang-ditutup-di-zon-merah-seluruh-negara-2 https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.8n.4p.33 http://jice.um.edu.my/index.php/JIER/article/view/26143 https://www.iarjournals.com/upload/424349.pdf Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 140 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 Mohd Husni, F. A., Ahmad H. Osman, R., Fadzli, N., & Mohd Noor, A. (2021). The contributions of arabic language in the islamization of mass media in Malaysia. Al Hikmah International Journal of Islamic Studies and Human Sciences, 4(Special Issue), 138–151. https://doi.org/10.46722/hkmh.4.si.f21 Mokhtar, M. I. M. (2021). The effectiveness of gadget in speaking arabic as a foreign language during the Covid 19. American Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 6(1), 39–46. https://doi.org/10.20448/801.61.39.46 Nurdiansyah, E. W., & Jannah, M. (2021). Perbedaan kecemasan atlet laki-laki dan perempuan pada mahasiswa unit kegiatan mahasiswa universitas negeri Surabaya. Character: Jurnal Penelitian Psikologi, 8(9), 60-65. Rahmah Ahmad H., O., Ahmed Ragheb, M., & Muhammad Zamri Abdul, G. (2022). E-Diwan App: The 21st century solution for teaching and learning arabic poetry. International Journal of Advanced Research in Technology and Innovation, 4(1), 18–27. http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijarti Rajkumar, R. P. (2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 52, 102066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2021, August 5). Education: From disruption to recovery. UNESCO. Retrieved August 27, 2021, from https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). (2021, December 15). Indoor Air and Coronavirus (COVID-19). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-and-coronavirus-covid- 19#:%7E:text=Transmission%20of%20COVID%2D19%20from,for%20hou rs%20in%20some%20cases Wang, D., Hu, B., Hu, C., Zhu, F., Liu, X., Zhang, J., Wang, B., Xiang, H., Cheng, Z., Xiong, Y., Zhao, Y., Li, Y., Wang, X., & Peng, Z. (2020). Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalised patients with 2019 novel coronavirus– infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA, 323(11), 1061. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.1585 Winter, T., Riordan, B. C., Pakpour, A. H., Griffiths, M. D., Mason, A., Poulgrain, J. W., & Scarf, D. (2020). Evaluation of the english version of the fear of COVID-19 scale and its relationship with behavior change and political beliefs. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00342-9 https://doi.org/10.46722/hkmh.4.si.f21 https://doi.org/10.20448/801.61.39.46 http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijarti https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066 https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-and-coronavirus-covid-19#:%7E:text=Transmission%20of%20COVID%2D19%20from,for%20hours%20in%20some%20cases https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-and-coronavirus-covid-19#:%7E:text=Transmission%20of%20COVID%2D19%20from,for%20hours%20in%20some%20cases https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-and-coronavirus-covid-19#:%7E:text=Transmission%20of%20COVID%2D19%20from,for%20hours%20in%20some%20cases https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.1585 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00342-9 Mokhtar | Fear of Covid-19 and Anxiety in the Arabic Language Learners in Kuala Lumpur 141 International Journal of Islamic Educational Psychology, 3(2), 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) [YouTube]. (2021, July 30). WHO’s Science in 5 on COVID-19: Post COVID-19 condition - 30 July 2021 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p-FOLJH8Ag&t=33s World Health Organization (WHO). (2021, May 31). Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/ World Health Organization. (2020, January 10). Coronavirus. World Health Organization (WHO). Retrieved August 27, 2021, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1 World Health Organization. (n.d.-a). COVID-19: Physical distancing. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/covid- 19/information/physical-distancing World Health Organization. (n.d.-b). Mental health and COVID-19. Retrieved November 30, 2021, from https://www.euro.who.int/en/health- topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/publications-and- technical-guidance/mental-health-and-covid-19 Zhu, X., & Liu, J. (2020). Education in and After Covid-19: Immediate Responses and Long-Term Visions. Postdigital Science and Education, 2(3), 695–699. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00126-3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p-FOLJH8Ag&t=33s https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/ https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1 https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/covid-19/information/physical-distancing https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/covid-19/information/physical-distancing https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/publications-and-technical-guidance/mental-health-and-covid-19 https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/publications-and-technical-guidance/mental-health-and-covid-19 https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/publications-and-technical-guidance/mental-health-and-covid-19 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-020-00126-3