Abstract

Objectives: The study aimed to examine the effect of using Understanding by Design (UbD) framework in the "My Beautiful Language" course on developing reading motivation among fourth-grade female students. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed with two groups (experimental and control) and pretest, post-test, and follow-up measures. The study instruments were administered to a sample of (66) fourth-grade female students from the Second Elementary School for Girls in Irqah, Riyadh. The participants were equally divided between the experimental and control groups. Results: Pre-test results on the reading motivation scale indicated the equivalence of the control and experimental groups, with mean scores of (60.67) and (60.88), respectively, with no statistically significant differences between the two groups prior to the experiment. After implementing the program based on the (UbD) Framework, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group (p < .001). Conclusions: Based on these findings, the study recommends integrating the Understanding by Design framework into elementary Arabic language curricula - particularly reading content- to support positive and sustained reading motivation.