Quranic Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic: A Study of the Language Gap Among Secondary Learners in Gombe State

Many Nigerian secondary school students receive instruction in Quranic Arabic through religious education but find that this exposure does not readily translate into proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic as taught in formal academic programmes. This study investigates the gap between Quranic Arabic competence and Modern Standard Arabic proficiency among senior secondary school students in Gombe State, examining the linguistic and pedagogical factors that create or widen this divide. Adopting a mixed-methods design, the research administers parallel Quranic Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic comprehension tests to 200 students in fifteen secondary schools across Gombe, Billiri, and Akko local government areas. Comparative analysis of performance on both tests is used to map the proficiency gap at individual and group levels. Classroom observations and teacher interviews provide additional data on instructional approaches and curricular connections made between the two Arabic varieties. The study finds that students demonstrate significantly higher performance on Quranic Arabic phonology and recitation tasks than on Modern Standard Arabic morphological and syntactic tasks, confirming a substantive proficiency gap. Teachers are found to rarely make explicit pedagogical connections between Quranic and Modern Standard Arabic in their instruction. Recommendations advocate for a bridging curriculum that explicitly builds on Quranic Arabic familiarity as a scaffold for Modern Standard Arabic acquisition. Keywords: Quranic Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, proficiency gap, secondary learners, Gombe State.