Acoustic and perceptual correlates of emphasis, a secondary articulation in the posterior vocal tract, in Urban Jordanian Arabic were studied. CVC monosyllables and CV.CVC bisyllables with emphatic and plain target consonants in word-initial, word-medial and word-final positions were examined. Spectral measurements on the target vowels at vowel…

The phenomenon of style shift in translated texts is ascribed mainly to textual incompatibility in terms of rhetorical asymmetry and divergence at the formality level. Mandatory shifts result from a systematic dissimilarity between the source language and the target language in terms of the underlying system of syntax, semantics and rhetorical…

In self-paced learning, when the regulation of effort is goal driven (e.g., allocated to different items according to their relative importance), judgments of learning (JOLs) increase with study time. When it is data driven (i.e., determined by the ease of committing the item to memory), JOLs decrease with study time (Koriat, Ma'ayan, &…

The goal of the present study was to examine functioning of late bilinguals in their second language. Specifically, we asked how native and non-native Hebrew speaking listeners perceive accented and native-accented Hebrew speech. To achieve this goal we used the gating paradigm to explore the ability of healthy late fluent bilinguals (Russian and…

This article focuses on the development of a Literacy Assessment Battery for the diagnosis of Maltese children with specific learning difficulties. It forms part of a wider research study involving testing of 549 children in Malta as well as standardisation of the tool. Results of the children's performance and psychometric validation go beyond…

This study examined the effects of a collaborative creative writing project on identity formation and overall language proficiency development among advanced Hebrew students. In an exercise called "The Zoning Committee", college students created the fictional Israeli-American town of Beit Shemesh, located in northern Michigan.…

It has long been suggested that, in a bilingual setting, the proficiencies achieved in the first (L1) and second (L2) language may have a bearing on a subject's cognitive and, consequently, academic functioning. The study is set in Malta, a country in which Maltese (L1) and English (L2) are learnt simultaneously at school from age 5. It…

This article is based on a study conducted at the first Arabic and Hebrew bilingual school in Israel (Neve-Shalom/Wahat-Alsalam--NSWAS). The article focuses on Jewish as well as Palestinian parents' perspectives and responses to survey questions and interviews conducted at the school. Parents named reasons for choosing the school, satisfaction…

This essay reviews the Geographical section of the "International Handbook of Jewish Education" published in 2011. The differences between countries, their unique histories and cultures, are important, but their similarities are arguably more revealing. Indeed, on occasions when similar phenomena are examined in different places by different…

A sample of junior students majoring in translation was enrolled in an Arabization course. The students received direct instruction in word formation processes in English and Arabic such as compounding, derivation, back formation, conversion, blends, clipping, acronyms and neologisms. Focus was on similarities and differences between English and…

This paper proposes a reading support technique for Arabic students of English. These students must overcome the L1 interference "reversal of reading direction." PowerPoint presentations, utilizing a simple fade effect with adjustable delay between words such that the text appears nicely in a left-to-right manner, line by line with voice…

This article presents an overview of the Arabic language in the United States. Drawing on archival research and statistical analysis, the article is divided into 4 major sections. The first discusses the history of immigration from the Arab world to the United States, as well as past efforts at Arabic language maintenance. The article continues…

This paper explores the process of gaining research access into the lives of Muslim girls in the southwest USA. We discuss four emerging "entry markers" that challenged the process of gaining and sustaining access over a period of 14 months. These included being Muslim enough, being modest enough, "inshallah" ("Allah"…

An educational challenge that many university EFL students face is the production of written academic arguments as part of their required essays. Although the importance of argumentative writing in education is uncontested, and research shows that EFL students find difficulties in producing such texts, it is not adequately dealt with for the L1…

Research indicates a strong relationship between phonological awareness and reading success. Phonemic intervention programs clearly show the benefits of explicitly teaching phonological awareness skills. Phonological awareness skills vary in nature and degree of difficulty and appear to follow a developmental progression. This study examined a…