Abstract
To study reading acquisition in diglossia is to study reading at the intersection of psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. In a diglossic context, sociolinguistic variables imbue the process of first language literacy acquisition with a host of variables that are not pertinent to other first language reading contexts. In this chapter, we discuss some major sociolinguistic features of Arabic diglossia that might have direct psycholinguistic implications for literacy development. Then, we present the basic tenets of our psycholinguistic-developmental approach to the study of reading acquisition in Arabic diglossia, including concepts, assumptions, methods, and findings. Five questions are addressed: (a) Does diglossia impact acquisition of basic reading skills? (b) Is the impact of diglossia the same across dialects? (c) Does the impact of diglossia decrease with increased exposure to the standard? (d) Does the impact of diglossia interact with developmental and environmental risk factors? (e) Does reading development in diglossia show a cross-lectal transfer of skills? Educational implications and directions for future research are outlined.
Keywords
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- 1.
Here we adopt Ferguson’s (1959) definition of diglossia as encompassing varieties of the same language rather than different languages.
- 2.
Though Ferguson proposes a dichotomy between the spoken and written varieties, he himself recognizes that this is just an abstraction. The much more complex linguistic situation in diglossia has been subsequently described in terms of levels, or a continuum (Badawi, 1973; Bassiouney, 2009; Blanc, 1960; Meiseles, 1980). We shall continue to use the well-established term ‘diglossia’ and its derivatives, understanding it in this modern conceptual framework as a continuum along which shifting, switching, and mixing constantly occur.
- 3.
The language that 5-year-old Palestinian Arabic (PA) speaking children produced in interactions with peers and teachers at school was recorded. The data consisted of 17,499 word tokens and 4,408 word types. The analysis showed that 93 % of the total word types produced by children were in Spoken Arabic, and 5% were Standard Arabic forms that were used when children were singing or reciting poems in Standard Arabic. Importantly, only 2% of the words were code-switched Hebrew words.
- 4.
Note that StA mood and case inflections on words were not taken into account.
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Saiegh-Haddad, E. (2022). A Psycholinguistic-Developmental Approach to the Study of Reading in Arabic Diglossia: Assumptions, Methods, Findings and Educational Implications. In: Saiegh-Haddad, E., Laks, L., McBride, C. (eds) Handbook of Literacy in Diglossia and in Dialectal Contexts. Literacy Studies, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80072-7_8
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