Handbook of Arabic Literacy: Insights and Perspectives (Literacy Studies 9)

"This book provides a synopsis of recently published empirical research into the acquisition of reading and writing in Arabic. Its particular focus is on the interplay between the linguistic and orthographic structure of Arabic and the development of reading and writing/spelling. In addition, the book addresses the socio-cultural, political, and educational milieu in which Arabic literacy is embedded. It enables readers to appreciate both the implications of empirical research to literacy enhancement, and the challenges and limitations to the applicability of such insights in the Arabic language and literacy context. The book will advance the understanding of the full context of literacy acquisition in Arabic with the very many factors (religious, historical, linguistic, etc.) that interact, and will, hence, contribute to weakening the anglocentricity that dominates discussions of this topic."--Page 4 of cover Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Structure of Arabic Language and Orthography....Pages 3-28 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 Is the Arabic Mental Lexicon Morpheme-Based or Stem-Based? Implications for Spoken and Written Word Recognition....Pages 31-54 Word Recognition in Arabic: Approaching a Language-Specific Reading Model....Pages 55-76 Why is it Hard to Read Arabic?....Pages 77-96 Front Matter....Pages 97-97 An Epidemiological Survey of Specific Reading and Spelling Disabilities in Arabic Speaking Children in Egypt....Pages 99-117 Types of Developmental Dyslexia in Arabic....Pages 119-151 Narrative Development In Arabic: Story Re-Telling....Pages 153-170 Cognitive Predictors of Early Reading Ability in Arabic: A Longitudinal Study from Kindergarten to Grade 2....Pages 171-194 Front Matter....Pages 195-195 The Effect of Diglossia on Literacy in Arabic and Other Languages....Pages 197-223 Acquiring Literacy in a Diglossic Context: Problems and Prospects....Pages 225-240 A New Look at Diglossia: Modality-Driven Distinctions between Spoken and Written Narratives in Jordanian Arabic....Pages 241-254 Literacy Acquisition and Diglossia: Textbooks in Israeli Arabic-speaking Schools....Pages 255-278 The Development of ADAT (Arabic Diglossic Knowledge and Awareness Test): A theoretical and clinical overview....Pages 279-300 Front Matter....Pages 301-301 The Development of Young Children’s Arabic Language and Literacy in the United Arab Emirates....Pages 303-321 Mother-Child Literacy Activities and Early Literacy in the Israeli Arab Family....Pages 323-347 Front Matter....Pages 349-349 Environmental Contributions to Language and Literacy Outcomes in Bilingual English-Arabic Children in the U.S.....Pages 351-379 The Development of Grapho-Phonemic Representations among Native Hebrew Speakers Learning Arabic as a Foreign Language....Pages 381-393 Braille Reading in Blind and Sighted Individuals: Educational Considerations and Experimental Evidence....Pages 395-408 Back Matter....Pages 409-422 This book provides a synopsis of recently published empirical research into the acquisition of reading and writing in Arabic. Its particular focus is on the interplay between the linguistic and orthographic structure of Arabic and the development of reading and writing/spelling. In addition, the book addresses the socio-cultural, political, and educational milieu in which Arabic literacy is embedded. It enables readers to appreciate both the implications of empirical research to literacy enhancement, and the challenges and limitations to the applicability of such insights in the Arabic language and literacy context. The book will advance the understanding of the full context of literacy acquisition in Arabic with the very many factors (religious, historical, linguistic, et cetera) that interact, and will, hence, contribute to weakening the anglocentricity that dominates discussions of this topic