L2 Arabic Dialect Comprehension: Empirical Evidence for the Transfer of Familiar Dialect Knowledge to Unfamiliar Dialects

Abstract

Arabic is a diglossic language, and learners must become competent in both Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and a spoken dialect. However, Arabic dialects are typically not taught in U.S. classrooms. One reason is the question of which dialect to teach? This study looks at two cases of transfer between familiar dialect listening ability and unfamiliar dialect listening ability. The first is between Egyptian and Levantine dialects, where one is familiar and one is not (EL transfer). The second is from Egyptian and/or Levantine dialects to Iraqi, Saudi, and Tunisian dialects when the speakers of these latter dialects are accommodating towards MSA (Accommodation transfer). In both cases, correlations and partial correlations revealed significant and positive relationships between the comprehension of unfamiliar dialects and both familiar dialect listening ability and MSA listening ability. Multiple regression analysis revealed that familiar dialect listening ability was a significant predictor of unfamiliar dialect listening ability for EL transfer, and MSA listening ability was not. For accommodation transfer, both familiar dialect listening ability and MSA listening ability were significant predictors of the comprehension of unfamiliar dialects, although MSA listening ability was slightly better. The implications of these results for the Arabic classroom are discussed.