Morphological ability among monolingual and bilingual speakers in early childhood: The case of two Semitic languages

Asli‐Badarneh, Abeer; Leikin, Mark

doi:10.1177/1367006918781079

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The advantage in reading identical words compared to cognate and unique words across ages highlights the impact of diglossia on reading. This result aligns with earlier research demonstrating the impact of Arabic diglossia on reading performance (Asadi & Asli-Badarneh, 2023;Saiegh-Haddad, 2003;Saiegh-Haddad & Schiff, 2016;Schiff & Saiegh-Haddad, 2017;Taha & Saiegh-Haddad, 2017) and other linguistic skills (Asli-Badarneh & Leikin, 2019;Tallas-Mahajna et al, 2022). Indeed, this finding is reasonable and reflects the salience and availability of identical word forms, similar to the SpA form children typically use and are exposed to from birth.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

The impact of lexical and phonological distance on reading acquisition: The diglossic context of Arabic

Asli‐Badarneh

Asadi

2023

Journal Research in Reading

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BackgroundArabic is recognised as diglossic; one manifestation of diglossia is the co‐existence of two varieties of the language used in different social settings: standard (or literary) Arabic (StA) and spoken Arabic (SpA).The study investigated the impact of lexical–phonological distance in Arabic (identical, cognate, unique, which are different types of words) on reading accuracy and fluency across grade levels.MethodsThe participants were 180 native Arabic‐speaking children first and second graders. Participants were asked to read three‐word lists comprising words of three different lexical distance from spoken Arabic (identical, cognates and unique) and three text selections representing similar lexical distance (mostly identical, mostly cognates and mostly unique).ResultsThe findings showed a main effect of the word and text lexical distance fluency and accuracy reading scores. There was also a main effect of grade level on both scores. In addition, a significant interaction between the word and type words text lexical distance and grade level was found. The results revealed a more significant gap between the identical and the other two lexical distance categories (cognates and unique) in the second grade than in the first grade. Similarly, a more significant disparity was observed between the mostly identical type words and mostly cognate type word texts compared to unique type word texts in the second grade than in the first grade.ConclusionsThe results highlight the importance of StA knowledge and the centrality of diglossia lexical–phonological distance categories in reading, especially the contribution of reading StA words to text reading. The higher performance levels when reading identical compared to unique and cognate words and texts are discussed in light of the theoretical approaches to diglossic lexical–phonological distance. The results point to the centrality of diglossia lexical–phonological distance categories in reading.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

The impact of lexical and phonological distance on reading acquisition: The diglossic context of Arabic

Asli‐Badarneh

Asadi

2023

Journal Research in Reading

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“…This particular finding was of importance as it provided additional support to previous research findings that MA is essential for lexical development (Zhang, 2015), which in turn impacts oral narrative production. Moreover, the correlations between MA tasks in Arabic, Hebrew and EFL support the idea that cross-linguistic influences can be traced between languages that belong to the same typological group, such as Hebrew and Arabic, as well as languages that are typologically distant (Schwartz et al, 2016;Asli-Badarneh and Leikin, 2019), and further highlights the potential for cross linguistic influences across all the languages in the linguistic repertoire for multilinguals (Cenoz, 2013).…”

Section: The Effect Of Efl Language Skills In Efl Oral Narrative Productionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…Research indicates that as a result of the morphological complexity of the language, Arabic and Hebrew speaking children show signs of morphological sensitivity at an early age and are well able to attend to internal word structure (Ravid, 2001;Gillis and Ravid, 2006;Saiegh-Haddad and Taha, 2017;El Akiki and Content, 2020). Moreover, there is empirical evidence that young bilingual Hebrew and Arabic speakers outperform monolinguals on tasks of derivational morphology, as a sign of positive cross linguistic influences (Asli-Badarneh and Leikin, 2019). These findings suggest that cross-linguistic influences can be traced among languages that belong to the same typological group, such as Hebrew and Arabic (Schwartz et al, 2016;Asli-Badarneh and Leikin, 2019).…”

Section: Language Typology: Structural Similarities and Differences Between Arabic/hebrew And Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, there is empirical evidence that young bilingual Hebrew and Arabic speakers outperform monolinguals on tasks of derivational morphology, as a sign of positive cross linguistic influences (Asli-Badarneh and Leikin, 2019 ). These findings suggest that cross-linguistic influences can be traced among languages that belong to the same typological group, such as Hebrew and Arabic (Schwartz et al, 2016 ; Asli-Badarneh and Leikin, 2019 ). It has been further suggested that since Arabic morphology is more complex than Hebrew morphology, Arabic speaking bilinguals may have an advantage when they transfer skills from their more complex L1 morphological system to the less complex L2 Hebrew system (Chen and Schwartz, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive and Linguistic Skills Associated With Cross-Linguistic Transfer in the Production of Oral Narratives in English as a Foreign Language by Arabic- and Hebrew-Speaking Children: Finding Common Denominators

Russak

Zaretsky

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Many studies have examined literacy and related skills among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), but little attention has been given to the role of oral language within a cross-linguistic framework despite the fact that English is the most widely spoken additional language today. Oral narratives rely on lexical, morphosyntactic, and conceptual knowledge. An in-depth examination of this modality can shed light on specific associations between cognitive and linguistic L1 and EFL skills and suggest possible mediating variables that assist multilingual speakers in producing complete oral narratives in EFL. The present study examined L1 and EFL contributors to EFL oral narratives produced by native Arabic (n = 85) and Hebrew (n = 86) speaking sixth graders seeking to identify cross-linguistic influences. We assessed general cognitive skills, phonological memory (PM), lexical, morphosyntactic knowledge, and reading comprehension in L1 (Hebrew speakers), Modern Standard Arabic (MSA, L2), L3 Hebrew (for Arabic speakers) and EFL. The “Cookie Theft” task assessed EFL elicited narratives using modified narrative analysis scales to account for microstructure (lexical and morphosyntactic complexity) and macrostructure (understanding story elements), generating a Total Narrative score. Our results yielded different patterns of underlying psycholinguistic profiles, and cross and within language associations for each group. Strong interactions between L1, L2/L3, and EFL morphological awareness and reading comprehension suggested cross-linguistic transfer. Regression analysis identified the most influential skills supporting EFL narratives for each linguistic group: English reading comprehension (ERC) was essential for Hebrew speakers and English morphological awareness (EMA) for Arabic ones. These results suggested different allocations of cognitive and linguistic resources in EFL narratives. The results also allowed to identify a common mediating skill for both groups. Findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of the Interdependence Hypothesis, the Linguistic Proximity Model, as well as accounts of direct and indirect transfer, which illuminate the impact of typological distance, general language proficiency and components of linguistic knowledge on cross-linguistic transfer in EFL oral language production.

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“…For example, the root KTB, (ب ت ك) is associated with the concept “to write. An example of derivations based on this root are the words / ka:tib / (بتاك) “writer”; / maktu:b / (بوتكم) “written.” Psycholinguistically, the mental lexicon of Arabic speakers appears to also be organized along the morphological units of roots and word patterns, both in adults (Boudelaa, 2014; Boudelaa & Marslen-Wilson, 2010) and in children (Asli-Badarneh & Leikin, 2019; Shalhoub-Awwad & Leikin, 2016), and this has been shown to be compatible with early morphological processing in reading and spelling acquisition (Saiegh-Haddad, 2013; Saiegh-Haddad & Taha, 2017; Taha & Saiegh-Haddad, 2017). In turn, morphological processing has been proposed by the MAWRID (Model of Arabic Word Reading In Development) model (Saiegh-Haddad, 2018) to be a core building block of word reading development in Arabic.…”

Section: Arabic: Diglossia and Lexical Distancementioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada

Asli‐Badarneh¹,

Hipfner-Boucher²,

Bumgardner³

et al. 2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and objectives: The study investigated narrative microstructure skills of Arabic-speaking immigrant children in Canada ( N = 75; age range 7–12 years) with specific focus on diglossia and the lexical distance between Spoken Arabic (SpA) and Standard Arabic (StA). The study also tested the relationship between microstructure and macrostructure and probed into the relative importance of general versus diglossia-specific features of microstructure in predicting macrostructure. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were asked to tell a story from a picture using an Arabic version of the Test of Narrative Language (Gillam & Pearson, 2004). Instructions to participants were given in StA. Data and analysis: General measures of microstructure were coded: number of tokens, number of types, type/token ratio, and mean length of utterance (MLU). In addition to these general measures, we coded the average frequency of five diglossia-specific word types: (a) identical words, which keep the same phonological form in StA and SpA; (b) SpA cognates, namely, cognate words that keep different yet related forms in StA and SpA, used in their SpA form; (c) StA cognates, cognate words used in their StA forms; (d) unique SpA words; and (e) unique StA words. Regression analysis was used to predict macrostructure from general and diglossia-specific features of microstructure. Findings/conclusions: Results showed that the bulk of the lexicon of the narratives produced by immigrant children consisted of words and word forms that are within SpA: identical words, SpA cognates, and unique SpA words; StA word forms appeared less frequently, and English code-switched words were very rare. Results also showed that the microstructure features of narrative length in tokens and type/token ratio significantly predicted macrostructure beyond the children’s age and Arabic language proficiency. However, when diglossia-specific lexical features were added as predictors, the frequency of StA words predicted unique variance in macrostructure beyond age, Arabic language proficiency, and narrative length. Findings advance our understanding of narrative skills in Arabic diglossia among new immigrants and the role of lexical distance in narrative production in this context. Originality: The study is innovative in investigating the manifestation of diglossia in narrative microstructure features and the role of diglossia-specific features in predicting macrostructure, as well as in testing this question among immigrant children. Significance/implications: The study demonstrates the multifaceted lexicon of diglossic Arabic speakers as reflected in the microstructure of their narratives and the prevalence of SpA word forms in their lexicons. The study also demonstrates a significant relationship between microstructure and macrostructure, and the important role of StA lexical features of microstructure in predicting macrostructure. The results of the study have theoretical implications for the importance of lexical distance in understanding narrative production in children at both the microstructure and macrostructure levels. The study also has practical implications for assessment and intervention with Arabic-speaking children in diglossic Arabic.

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Morphological ability among monolingual and bilingual speakers in early childhood: The case of two Semitic languages

Cited by 12 publications

References 60 publications

The impact of lexical and phonological distance on reading acquisition: The diglossic context of Arabic

The impact of lexical and phonological distance on reading acquisition: The diglossic context of Arabic

Cognitive and Linguistic Skills Associated With Cross-Linguistic Transfer in the Production of Oral Narratives in English as a Foreign Language by Arabic- and Hebrew-Speaking Children: Finding Common Denominators

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada

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