TITLE:
The Complex Nature of Text Reading Difficulties: The Case of Bilingual Children
AUTHORS:
Raphiq Ibrahim, Suha Shibel, Rachel Hertz-Lazarowitz
KEYWORDS:
Bilingual, Orthography, Reading, Arabic, Hebrew, Diglossia
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.16,
October
31,
2014
ABSTRACT: The
present research examined the effect of nature of orthography on the
development of reading acquisition among children acquiring Arabic and Hebrew.
Speed and accuracy measures were examined in reading texts in Arabic and in
Hebrew. It was found that Arabic speakers showed an almost equal control in
reading both languages. Furthermore, it was found that the speed of reading
texts in Arabic among Arabic speakers was 3 times slower than reading Hebrew
texts among Hebrew readers. These findings confirm that there is difficulty in
identifying and decoding visual stimuli in Arabic. Furthermore, findings of the
present research paper emphasizes that reading in Hebrew is faster and more
precise than reading in Arabic, beyond mother tongue groups (Arab and Hebrew
speakers). In addition, Hebrew readers showed a significant difference in
reading in favor of reading in their mother tongue (both in accuracy and
speed). In conclusion, findings of the present research suggest that there is
an objective difficulty in acquiring reading of the Arabic language, and there
is need for systematic intervention among those who face difficulties in the
learning process.