Abstract
This study examines the influence of diglossia on syntactic proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) among 63 fourth-graders in central Israel, divided into two groups: regular and struggling. They were given three examinations constructed especially for this study: translating sentences from Spoken Arabic Vernacular (SAV) into MSA, a cloze test, and an oral exam, in which the pupils were asked to describe pictures in MSA. The findings revealed errors in the use of connectives, the use of prepositions, sentence integrity, and verb conjugation. No significant differences were found between regular and struggling pupils in average test scores in terms of errors in syntactic elements. In using prepositions, regular pupils made more errors than did struggling pupils; this was because the latter did not answer questions relating to this element. Several factors explain the effect of diglossia on syntactic proficiency: the similarity of MSA and SAV, the influence of the surroundings, scanty reading of books, the teaching methods used in Arab schools, the influence of Hebrew on the Arab student, and the lack of encouragement from the establishment and the education system. Future research should investigate this effect on a larger sample in order to obtain more representative outcomes.
Highlights
This study examines the influence of diglossia on syntactic proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) among 63 fourth-graders in central Israel, divided into two groups: regular and struggling
Several factors explain the effect of diglossia on syntactic proficiency: the similarity of MSA and Spoken Arabic Vernacular (SAV), the influence of the surroundings, scanty reading of books, the teaching methods used in Arab schools, the influence of Hebrew on the Arab student, and the lack of encouragement from the establishment and the education system
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of diglossia on syntactic proficiency in standard Arabic among regular and struggling readers
Summary
The in-depth linguistic analysis of Spoken Arabic Vernacular (SAV) and Mod-. Ern Standard Arabic (MSA) reveals differences in all areas of the language, including the phonological, the morpho-syntactic, and the lexical-semantic fields (Maamouri, 1998). Researchers have noticed that SAV has an adverse effect on the development of reading. Children speak SAV until preschool age and, find it difficult to construct phonological representations of MSA words in the early school grades (Saiegh-Haddad et al, 2011; Saiegh-Haddad, 2003, 2004, 2007). The scientific literature indicates that Arabic diglossia has a definitive impact on reading and basic linguistic skills due to the gulf between the vernacular form, acquired in childhood, and Modern Standard Arabic, mastered later on. The effect of this diglossia on syntactic proficiency in MSA has not been examined, and here is where this study will make its contribution
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
