Islamic Moral Education through Linguistic Habituation: Local Wisdom, Polite Speech, and the Formation of Adab as a Hidden Curriculum
This study investigates how Islamic moral education is cultivated through linguistic habituation grounded in local wisdom, positioning polite speech as a hidden curriculum for the formation of adab within the pesantren environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the pedagogical role of everyday language practices in shaping students’ moral dispositions beyond formal religious instruction. A qualitative case study design was employed in an Islamic boarding school, involving 18 purposively selected informants consisting of one kyai, three ustadz, two administrators, and twelve santri. Data were collected through prolonged participant observation, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and analysis of institutional documents. Trustworthiness was ensured through source and method triangulation, member checking, and iterative thematic analysis using an interactive model. The findings indicate that polite language, particularly the habitual use of Javanese Krama Inggil, functions not as explicit linguistic instruction but as a culturally embedded moral practice integrated into daily life. This linguistic habituation fosters verbal politeness, emotional self-control, humility (tawadhu’), and respect toward teachers and peers, thereby creating an orderly, low-conflict, and socially harmonious communicative climate. Language thus operates as a mechanism of moral self-regulation and serves as an implicit moral infrastructure that shapes students’ character through continuous interaction. The novelty of this study lies in reconceptualizing language as a pedagogical instrument and hidden curriculum within Islamic moral education rather than merely a communicative or cultural tool. This study contributes theoretically by integrating Islamic moral pedagogy, virtue ethics, and hidden curriculum theory, and contributes practically by proposing a context-sensitive model of adab formation that can be adapted across diverse Islamic educational settings.
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