Literacy ability and phonological processing skills amongst dyslexic and non-dyslexic speakers of Arabic

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between phonological processing and reading ability amongst grade 4 and grade 5 Arabic speaking children in Egypt. In addition to measuring reading level, the study assessed the children's ability to identify rhymes, delete individual phonemes from words, retain and manipulate sequences of digit names and rapidly access verbal labels. Further literacy and literacy-related tasks required children to decode novel letter strings, to distinguish similar words, to identify words within letter chains and to correctly spell dictated text. A non-verbal ability measure was also included to allow comparisons to be made between a group of poor readers with good non-verbal skills (dyslexics) with a control group of chronologicalage-matched normal readers with equivalent average scores on the non-verbal task. Results indicated relationships between literacy ability, decoding and phonological processing within this cohort, as well as identifying differences between dyslexic and control groups that suggest Arabic dyslexics show signs of poor phonological skills. The study supports the view that Arabic dyslexic children have impairments in the phonological processing domain.

Identification of Children at Risk for Reading Disabilities in Elementary Schools in Oman: The Role of Phoneme Segmentation and Phoneme Blending in Learning Arabic

“…However, there were no significant differences in PB as a result of grade level. These findings are consistent with other studies of Arabic [10], [12]. The results also reflect similar finding on English language [13], [14].…”

Introduction to the special issue on literacy in Arabic

“…For example, Elbeheri, Everatt, Mahfoudhi, Abu-Diyar and Taibah's (in press) orthographic measure predicted variability in the comprehension fluency over-and-above that predicted by phonological measures in older mainstream children (grades 4 and 5) but not in the younger grades (2 and 3). This influence may not be due simply to greater literacy exposure since children with literacy learning problems (dyslexia) also show this influence of orthography (see also Elbeheri & Everatt, 2007). The finding that the influence of orthographic processing is explained by phonological processing measures in the younger cohort but not in the older groups is consistent with several models of reading acquisition that were developed for orthographies other than Arabic.…”

“…Given this, it is hardly surprising to find that investigations of phonological processing and its role in reading development, have been a focus for many studies looking at the relationship between language and literacy, including those investigating Arabic literacy development. Consistent with the importance of phonological processing in literacy development, many have found that phonological measures (when applied in the standard variety, i.e., the variety learned at school) are related to reading and spelling skills in Arabic (see Abu-Rabia, Share, & Mansour, 2003;Al-Mannai & Everatt, 2005;Elbeheri & Everatt, 2007). However, Elbeheri et al (2006) also argue that further research is necessary to allow firm conclusions to be made given that variations from predictions based on English language models have been identified.…”

Qualitative Analysis of Spelling Errors in Arabic among Bedouin Elementary School Pupils

“…They are also written with slight difference according to the preceding letter (Ibrahim, 2013). In addition to the diacritics for the three short vowels, there are additional reading signs that contribute phonology to the Arabic alphabet (for a summary, see Abu-Rabia, 2001, 2002Elbeheri & Everatt, 2007;Taouk & Coltheart, 2004). Thus, the complexity of the visual information which is expected from the reader to process demands heavy reliance on visual processing besides the phonological processing.…”