Investigating Cognitive Processes Underlying Reading in Arabic: Evidence from Typical and Poor Reading Performance

Abstract

The current study has examined by which cognitive factors at the field of phonological and visual processing, rapid automatized naming and morphological awareness, contribute to reading and decoding abilities among typical and poor native Arabic readers. In the current study, the performances of two groups of participants, typical and poor readers were compared through tasks that examined their performance with regard to the areas of functions mentioned above in addition to other tasks that examined their performance in reading meaningful and pseudo words. The study's results have indicated that the visual and phonological processing skills play an important role in reading among typical and poor readers as well. Moreover, it was found that the visual and phonological processing skills of participants with poor reading skills were lower in comparison to participants with typical reading abilities.

Phonological and Cognitive Reading Related Skills as Predictors of Word Reading and Reading Comprehension among Arabic Dyslexic Children

“…In highly transparent orthographies, vocabulary was the strongest predictor of word reading speed and accuracy (Landerl et al, 2013). Accordingly, orthographic knowledge, phonological awareness (PA), and morphological awareness contribute to the organization of reading efficiency among Arabic readers (Abu-Rabia, 2007;Taha, 2013). Yet a larger number of cognitive factors should be examined in the Arabic language.…”

Effectiveness of a Phonological Awareness Training for Arabic Disabled Reading Children: Insights on Metalinguistic Benefits

“…Unlike previous Arabic studies (Dallasheh-Khatib, Ibrahim, & Karni, 2014;Taha, 2013;Tibi, 2010), the present one focused on investigating the effects of PA intervention on dyslexics and normal readers from grades 4 and 5 at pre-training and post-training periods. Both groups were exposed to a similar reading condition in the classroom.…”

“…Arabic has six vowel phonemes: three long vowels / ā /, / ū /, and / ī / and three short vowels /a/, u/, and /i/ represented through an optional system of superscripted diacritics. Short vowels are represented as extra-diacritical marking, while patterns that include vowel letters are inserted between the root consonants (Taha, 2013). Moreover, Arabic writing is syllabic where, unlike English, the sound symbol association is almost entirely one-to-one and words always begin with a single consonant followed by a vowel (Aaron & Joshi, 1989).…”

“…The tasks in the PA program were based on those reported in the literature at word and syllable levels (e.g. Taha, 2013;Tibi, 2010).…”

The Dynamic Maturation Process of the Brain Structures, Visual System and Their Connections to the Structures of the Prefrontal Cortex during 4–6 Years of Age

“…There are also those who highlight the role of motor difficulties on the academic problems of children [12,13]. Separate developments examine the symptoms of dyslexia as a result of complex sensorimotor disorders in combination with phonological deficits [14][15][16]. Data from longitudinal neurobiology studies of children with typical and atypical reading support the thesis of non-typical brain maturation, the features of which refer to the preliterate stage [17].…”