Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the stability of phonological awareness (PA) and language achievements between kindergarten and first grade among Arabic-speaking children. Method: A total of 1,158 children were assessed in PA and language skills in both grades and were classified based on distinct and integrated achievements on PA and…

Purpose: The study tested macro- and microstructure narrative skills in kindergarten Arabic-speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and in age-matched children with typical language development (TLD). Specifically, it compared narrative skills in the two groups of children in two story modes: storytelling in Spoken Arabic…

Reading instruction for young Arabic speakers presents challenges for textbook publishers and teachers. In the present study, the authors conduct an analysis at the word level of four multidisciplinary textbooks for reading instruction in grades one and two in Egypt. The study sought to answer the following questions: What are the most common…

Purpose: The main aim of the current study was to examine the longitudinal impact of verb inflectional distance on morphological awareness among Arabic-speaking children from kindergarten (K) to third grade. The study also investigated the impact of testing children in two language varieties, Spoken Palestinian dialect (SPD) and Modern Standard…

Exploring the relationships between different linguistic skills is essential for linguistics and interventional studies on language disorders. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between phonological skills, non-phonological skills (including vocabulary, morphological and syntax awareness), and basic literacy ability (including letter…

Reading acquisition in Arabic presents unique challenges, notably due to its complex morphological structure and the diglossic nature of the language. The discrepancy between written (Modern Standard) and spoken Arabic poses significant barriers for learners, particularly in decoding morphologically complex words. This study explored the role of…

The quality of Arabic language teaching and learning can be improved through the implementation of engaging programs and innovative approaches. In an effort to revitalize a stodgy curriculum, a number of schools have piloted a literature-integrated approach to the teaching of Arabic language and have anecdotally reported successes in student…

This article discusses the language needs analysis which informed the development of a beginner Arabic language course for Scottish primary education staff who work with Arabic-speaking refugee children and families. Interviews and focus group were carried out with: Scottish educators; Arabic-speaking refugee children; and parents/carers. They…

Having the ability to read is an essential skill for an individual. However, comprehension, the aim of reading, is a complex cognitive process that involves constructing meaning through deliberate thinking. Unfortunately, students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggle with reading, which impairs their comprehension abilities. Repeated…

Many second language (L2) students in Sweden struggle with reading in Swedish. There needs to be more research on how L2 students with weak word decoding skills in Swedish could be individually supported. Therefore, the current study examined the impact of a systematic and intensive word decoding intervention in Swedish among individual L2…

This study investigates the role of diglossic and orthographic features in reading comprehension in Arabic. Specifically, it probes the independent contribution of language, metalinguistic, and decoding skills in the spoken language and in Standard Arabic to reading comprehension in the "abjad" writing system of Arabic. A sample of 112…

Purpose: Word learning requires the creation of phonological and semantic representations and links in long-term memory. Phonological distance of a given word from the spoken language affects children's lexical-phonological representations and processing. The study investigates the role of the phonological distance of Modern Standard Arabic (StA)…

In Arabic literacy education in Europe, whether within mainstream education or in supplementary schools, instruction is a translocal endeavour at its core. The socio-historical conditions and ways of knowing embedded in traditional ways of teaching Arabic literacy are still deeply intertwined with the teaching of Arabic literacy in the diaspora.…

We examined the role of morphological processing in the reading of inflections and derivations in Arabic, a morphologically-rich language, among 228 first-graders and 230 second-graders. All words were morphologically complex, with differences in number of morphemes and morphological transparency. Inflections consisted of three morphemes, with…

Fine motor skills (FMS) are among the most studied nonlinguistic factors influencing early literacy acquisition. Although developmental studies have often supported the presence of a relationship between FMS and emergent literacy, the underlying mechanisms have not always been adequately explored. In this study, we used structural equation…