The Role of Morphological Awareness in Reading Comprehension Among Typical and Learning Disabled Native Arabic Speakers

Abstract

This work examines the role of morphological awareness in contrast to phonological processing in reading comprehension amongst two groups of native Arabic children: a group with learning disabilities (LD) and a mainstream group who were matched to the LD group in age or reading level. Measures of reading comprehension fluency, phonological skills, and morphological ability were given to both groups in addition to tests of nonverbal ability. For the mainstream children, unique variability in comprehension was predicted by the morphological measures over that of the measures of phonological skills and general nonverbal ability. In contrast, for the LD data, variability in comprehension was not predicted by morphological ability even though the children with LD performed the morphology task as well as their typically developing peers did. These findings are discussed in terms of theories of reading acquisition across languages as well as recommendations for literacy teaching and LD intervention in Arabic.

Could an Interactive-Balanced Environment for Reading Acquisition Overcome the Triad Risk Factors: Low Socioeconomic Status, Low Literacy Skills and Language Properties?

“…The obtained results stress the multi-componential aspects of reading in Arabic, requiring a broader perspective, transcending phonology while considering other precursors of reading, such as morphological awareness (e.g. Mahfoudhi, Elbeheri, Al-Rashidi, & Everatt, 2010;Makhoul & Ibrahim, 2012;Mutlak, 2010). In the current study, positive significant correlation was found in the HG group between morphology and all reading measures with listening comprehension.…”

Predicting reading comprehension of narrative and expository texts among Hebrew-speaking readers with and without a reading disability

“…In another study conducted in Arabic, for average readers, unique variability in reading comprehension was predicted by the morphological measures beyond measures of phonological skills and general nonverbal ability. In contrast, for the RD readers, variability in comprehension was not predicted by morphological ability even though they performed as well as their typically developing peers in the morphology task (Mahfoudhi, Elbeheri, Elbeheri, & Everatt 2010). Taken together, research suggests that important differences exist between reading comprehension predictors among RD and NRD readers.…”

Introduction to the special issue on literacy in Arabic

“…The focus of Allaith and Joshi's paper is the sounds (phonemic inventory) within the two languages and, therefore, there is a good introduction to these differences in their paper. However, there are other factors that are worthy of consideration, such as the focus on morphological features of the Arabic language which extends to the Arabic orthography, despite the potentially high level of symbol-sound correspondence between orthography and language (see review in Mahfoudhi, Elbeheri, Al-Rashidi, & Everatt, 2010). Further research is needed to determine whether morphological awareness is more important in Arabic literacy learning compared to other languages, such as English, as well as its role in both typical development and those presenting evidence of specific difficulties in literacy acquisition.…”