Consonant Profile of Arabic-Speaking School-Age Children in Jordan

Abstract

The paper provides a detailed consonant profile of 100 Jordanian children at the onset of formal schooling. The data were elicited through a modified version of Amayreh’s (1994) articulation test. The findings showed that all consonants of Jordanian Spoken Arabic were acquired. The six consonants that were not acquired in Standard Arabic have dialectal forms. The accuracy rates of these consonants were discussed in the light of frequency of occurrence of consonants and diglossia. The study recommended an earlier targeting of consonants that have dialectal variants. It also suggested that knowledge of the diglossic nature of Arabic is important for literacy development as well as for diagnosis and treatment of articulation problems.