LINGUISTIC GUIDELINES FOR LANGUAGE
EVALUATION OF ARAB-AMERICAN
CHILDREN USING CELF-4
Reem Khamis-Dakwar, PhD, certified SLP (NY)
Adelphi University
Abbas Benmamoun
Heidi Al-Askary, PhD, CCC-SLP
Heather Green, M.S., CCC-SLP
Dr. Hamid Ouali
Dr. Tommie Cheung
DISCLOSURE
No one involved in this study has any
relevant financial or nonfinancial
relationships to disclose.
OUTLINE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction
Arabic language
Arab culture
SLP in the Arab world
Arabic-English children: Performance on the
CELF-4
6. Question/Answer
FIRST…THANKS
o ASHA grant program on multicultural activities
o Arab-American Association in NY
o Suliemna Center for disabilities-Saudi Arabia
o Collaborating linguists
• Abbas Benmamoun
• Dr. Tommie Cheung
• Dr. Hamid Ouali
o Contributing SLPs
• Dr. Heidi Al-Askary
• Heather Green
• Lama Farran
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
1. To raise the awareness of researchers and clinicians with
respect to linguistic and cultural aspects of Arabicspeaking communities in the US and in the Arab world.
o Written Resource provided on the Adelphia University website
• Introduction to Arab-Americans
• Linguistic features of the main three regions of Arabic
• Cultural aspects of Arabic-speaking and Arab-American
communities
2. To provide specific guidelines for analyzing the
performance of Arabic–speaking children on the CELF-4,
with reference to data on the performance of typically
developing Arab-American children on this assessment.
WHO ARE ARAB-AMERICANS?
o Arab-Americans- Individuals who immigrated to
North America from Middle Eastern or North African
Arab countries and their descendants
• U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 estimates 1.3 million in the U.S.
• Zogby, 2001 estimates more than 3 million in the U.S.
o Different religious affiliations
o Various countries of origin
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
Morocc
o
Algeria
Tunisia
Lebano
n
Syria
Israel/
Palestine
Kuwait
Jorda
n
Liby
a
Yemen
Egypt
Suda
n
United
Arab
Emirates
Bahrai
n
Saudi Arabia
Oma
n
ARAB-AMERICANS:
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
(U.S. CENSUS, 2000)
ARAB-AMERICANS:
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
o Christian~ 63% (Zogby, 2001)
o Muslim~ 24% (Zogby, 2001)
o Other belief systems
• Arab Druze
• Arab Jews
• Arab Charkas
• Atheists
ARAB-AMERICANS
EDUCATION AND SES
o Higher education levels compared to the general U.S. population
(Brittingham & De la Cruz, 2005).
o Higher median household income ($52,300) in comparison to the
national median ($50,000) based on the U.S. Census.
o Higher poverty rate (17%) in comparison to that of the general
U.S. population (12%) (Brittingham & De la Cruz, 2005).
ARAB-AMERICANS:
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
Post 9/11 Arab-Americans report:
• being fearful of hate crimes
• anxiety over their future and safety
• a loss of a sense of community
• feeling isolated and stereotyped (Abu-Ras, 2008).
• psychological distress and depression similar to trauma
responses (Abu-Ras, 2008; Padela, & Heisler, 2010).
ARAB-AMERICANS:
WHAT WE TEACH OUR STUDENTS
o Limited or absent information
o
Wilson, M.E.(1996). Arabic speakers: Language and culture, here and abroad.
Topics in Language Disorders, 16, 4, 65-80.
o Based/focused on the Arab world
o
Wilson, W.F. (1998). Delivering speech-language and hearing services in the
Arab world: Some cultural considerations. In D.E. Battle (Ed.). Communication
disorders in multicultural populations (pp. 197-212). Boston, MA: ButterworthHeinemann.
• Nydell, M.K. (2012).Understanding Arabs: A contemporary guide to Arab
society. Boston, MA: Intercultural Press.
“ Since the 1980s many new immigrants to the U.S. have come from the Arab
world of Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and
Algeria. Ninety-two percent of this population is of the Muslim faith, but the Arab
language also provides a bond among people of the region (Rosberry-Mckibben,
2008). Middle eastern communication styles include the acceptance of loud
speech as normal in conversation, rapid speech, emphasis on eye contact as
indicative of truthfulness in men, though less acceptable for women, acceptance
of emotionality in conversation, and value placed on silence during
communication. Arabic cultures place high esteem on poetry and eloquence, as
well as on elaborate displays of respect through the use of titles in greetings (Omar
Nydell,2006). Some articulation and language differences between English and
Arabic speakers are listed in Box-5-4. Children from a middle eastern background
who make these kinds of errors will need additional opportunities to hear and use
English, in order to refine their English language skills (As cited in Paul, 2012.p.143).
ARABIC LANGUAGE:
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
oDialects
oDiglossia
oHeritage versus non-heritage speakers
of Arabic
ARABIC: BACKGROUND
ABBAS BENMAMOUN
ARABIC SPEAKING COUNTRIES
SPEAKERS OF ARABIC
• There are approximately 300 million speakers of
Arabic.
• Arabic is also a minority language in sub-Saharan
Africa (Cameroon and Nigeria); Afghanistan, Iran;
Israel, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
CHARACTERISTICS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Root and Pattern Morphology
Prefixal and Suffixal agreement
Pro-drop/clitics/independent pronouns
Construct State (N+NP)
Head initial/head final
Dual
Case
CHARACTERISTICS
•
•
•
•
•
Guttural sounds
Triliteral consonantal system (KTB)
Emphatic sounds and Emphatic spread
Resumptive pronouns
Verbless sentences (absence of copula in present
tense)
LANGUAGES IN CONTACT WITH
ARABIC
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Berber
Aramaic
Kurdish
Persian
French/Italian/Spanish
English
Bantu/South Asian/Turkish/Hebrew
DIGLOSSIA
• There are at least two varieties of Arabic used in the
Arabic speaking countries: Standard (Formal)
Arabic and Colloquial (Spoken) Arabic.
TWO VARIETIES = TWO LANGUAGES
• SA a.
• MA b.
• LA c.
Ɂaʕtaqidu Ɂanna l-walad-a
ya-lʕabu
believe.1s that the-child-acc 3m-play
‘I believe that the child is playing.’
ta-n-ḍən
bəlli l-wəld ta-y-lʕəb
Asp-1-believe that the-child Asp-3-play
‘I believe that the child is playing.’
biftikir Ɂənno l-walad
ʕam byilʕab
believe.1s that the-child Asp play.3sm
‘I believe that the child is playing.’
TWO VARIETIES= TWO LANGUAGES
• JA b.
maa(δaa) turiid
what 2ms-imp.want
What do you want’
šu bədə-m
• MA c.
šnu
• EA d.
What do you want’
ʕaayiz eeh
wanting what
‘What do you want’
• SA a.
what want-3p
‘What do they want’
what
bɣiti
perf.3ms
STANDARD ARABIC
• Official language of the countries of the Arab
League. It is also one of the official languages of the
United Nations.
• It is the language of Islam (Qur’an and Hadith texts).
• It is considered key to Pan-Arab identity (Arab
nationalism) and Islamic identity.
• It is institutionally supported through government
funded language academies.
STANDARD ARABIC
• It is relatively uniform across countries, though
lexical differences exist due to different sources of
borrowing (e.g., French or English).
• It is the high or prestigious variety.
• It is a second language in most non-Arab Muslim
countries (Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan etc.)
STANDARD ARABIC: DOMAINS
• Formal education
• Written religious, administrative and business
documents
• Arts and literature
• Scripted newscasts and reports.
• Written media
ACQUISITION AND USE
• In schools through formal instruction, though there
are children TV programs in Standard Arabic.
• Facility with the language differs according to
education level and literacy.
• Arab Americans have limited access to Standard
Arabic
• Many Arab Americans tend to learn MSA in
university settings as adults (Heritage learners)
SPOKEN ARABIC
• Spoken Arabic dialects differ within countries and
across countries.
• They share large number of cognates with each
other and with Standard Arabic.
• They display a great deal of similarity on the
phonological, morphological and syntactic levels.
SPOKEN ARABIC
• The dialects do not have a standardized script.
• They are considered less prestigious.
• There are relatively fewer publications in spoken
Arabic (compared to Standard Arabic) though that
is increasingly changing, particularly in literary works
of fiction.
SPOKEN ARABIC
• Mutual intelligibility decreases as the
geographical distance increases. Thus, a
Moroccan can relatively easily converse with
an Algerian but would have difficulties following
or pursuing a discourse in the Kuwaiti or Yemeni
dialects. This is especially the case for noneducated Arabs (Alan Kaye).
• The Egyptian dialect is familiar to most Arabs
thanks to the dominance of the Egyptian music,
TV, and film industries.
SPOKEN ARABIC: DOMAINS
• They are spoken in the home and in the
street and spontaneous unscripted speech.
• They are used in popular culture, TV series
(soaps), films, poetry, plays, talk shows, playby-play calls in sports, cooking shows,
debates, etc.
• They are also increasingly being used in
novels, usually mixed with Standard Arabic
and blogs and on the internet.
ACQUISITION AND USE
• Spoken dialects are learnt without formal
instruction (genuine first/native languages).
• There is no formal instruction for spoken
Arabic and there are no instructional
materials developed for native speakers.
There are no schools in the Arabic speaking
world that teach colloquial Arabic to native
speakers. All the schools and colloquial
programs are targeted to non-native
speakers.
Standard Arabic is essentially a second language
that is learnt through formal instruction while
Colloquial Arabic is a first language learnt
spontaneously through exposure in the home and
outside the home, in the Arab world
• Many Arab Americans acquire naturally the spoken
Arabic spoken at home (but have limited access to
MSA)
• For many, Arabic exposure decreases/ceases when they
enter school (similar to other l heritage speakers )
EGYPTIAN CONSONANTS
Bilabial
Alveolar
Inter-dental
plain
voiceless
Plosive
Palatal
tͅ
k
g
b
d
dͅ
voiceless
f
s
sͅ
z
zͅ
m
š
n
Lateral
l
Trill
r
Approximant
w
(q)
t
Fricative
Nasal
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Glottal
emphatic
voiced
voiced
Velar
j
ʔ
x
ħ
ɣ
ʕ
h
KUWAITI CONSONANTS
Bilabi
al
Alveolar
Interdental
plain
voiceless
f
d
ḍ
g
θ
s
ṣ
δ
z
š
č
voiced
ǰ
Affricate
m
n
Lateral
l
Trill
r
Approximant
w
(q)
k
voiceless
Nasal
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Glottal
emphatic
Fricative
voiced
Velar
ṭ
Plosive
b
Palatal
t
voiceless
voiced
Alveop
alatal
j
ʔ
x
ħ
ɣ
ʕ
h
MOROCCAN CONSONANTS
Bilabi
al
Alveolar
Interdental
plain
voiceless
Alveop
alatal
Velar
Uvular
k
q/ʔ/g
Pharyngeal
ṭ
ʔ
voiced
b
d
ḍ
ž
g
voiceless
f
s
ṣ
š
x
ħ
ɣ
ʕ
Fricative
z
voiced
voiceless
Affricate
voiced
Nasal
m
n
Lateral
l
Trill
r
Approximant
w
Glottal
emphatic
t
Plosive
Palatal
j
h
JORDANIAN CONSONANTS
(ALGHAZO 1987, AJLOUN
DIALEC)
Bilabi
al
Alveolar
Interdental
plain
voiceless
f
d
ḍ
g
θ
s
ṣ
δ
z
š
č
voiced
ǰ
Affricate
m
n
Lateral
l
l
Trill
r
r
Approximant
w
g
k
voiceless
Nasal
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Glottal
emphatic
Fricative
voiced
Velar
ṭ
Plosive
b
Palatal
t
voiceless
voiced
Alveop
alatal
j
ʔ
x
ħ
ɣ
ʕ
h
VOWELS
Front
High
Central Back
i (i:)
u (u:)
ә
Low
a (a:)
MORPHOLOGY: WORD STRUCTURE
AND DERIVATION
• Arabic morphology displays both concatenative
and non-concatenative modes of word formation.
• The two modes are displayed in both the
inflectional and derivational systems.
• Most basic roots are trilateral but there are bilateral
and quadrilateral roots.
ARABIC MORPHOLOGY
• Concatenative
kitaab

kitaab-u (Nom)
• Non-concatenative
kitaab

kutub (plural)
ARABIC MORPHOLOGY
• Many non-concatenative patterns are largely
predictable and regular (unlike, for example, the
strong vs. weak forms of verbs in English).
VERBAL SYSTEM
wa- saya- ktub- uuna- haa
and Fut
3
write-mp
‘And they will write it’
it
MOROCCAN ARABIC VERB
• w-ma-ɣa-y-qul-ha-l-u-š
and-neg-fut-Subj-say-Obj-Dat-Obj-neg3
IMPERFECTIVE VERB
1
2
m
2f
3
m
3f
Singular
ʔa-drus-u
Dual
Plural
na-drus-u
ta-drus-u
ta-drus-aa-n ta-drus-uu-n
ta-drus-ii-n ta-drus-aa-n ta-drus-na
ya-drus-u ya-drus-aa-n ya-drus-uu-n
ta-drus-u
ta-drus-aa-n ya-drus-na
PERFECTIVE VERB
Dual
1
Singular
daras-tu
Plural
daras-naa
2m
2f
3m
3f
daras-ta
daras-ti
darasa
daras-at
daras-tumaa
daras-tumaa
daras-aa
daras-ataa
daras-tum
daras-tunna
daras-uu
daras-na
SALIENT MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES
• Mood endings (in Standard Arabic)
• Dual number (varies according to varieties)
• Discontinuous agreement
IMPERATIVE VERB: SUBSTRACTIVE
MORPHOLOGY?
a.
ta-ktub-u
2-write-ind
‘You write/are writing’
b.
ʔu-ktub
‘Write!’
IMPERATIVE: SUBSTRACTIVE
MORPHOLOGY
a.
ta-rmii
2-throw
‘You throw/are throwing’
b. tarmiyu  tarmii
*Glide Deletion plus assimilation.
IMPERATIVE: SUBSTRACTIVE
MORPHOLOGY?
• ʔi-rmi
‘Throw!’
• rmiyu  rmii  rmi
Glide Deletion plus assimilation plus truncation of the
indicative.
AGREEMENT SYSTEM:
DISCONTINUOUS MORPHEMES?
• ya-ktub-uu
3-write-mp
• ta-ktub-uu
2-write-mp
• ya-ktub-na
2-write-fp
• ya-ktub-na
3-write-fp
DISCONTINUOUS MORPHEMES
ta-ktub-uu
ta-ktub-na
<->
<->
ʔu-ktub-uu
ʔu-ktub-na
NUMBER AGREEMENT
• ya-ktub l-ʔawlaad-u
3-write the-children
‘The children are writing’
• ktub-uu
write-mp
‘Write!’
NON-CONCATENATIVE SYSTEM
• Verbal Derivations
• Plural Formation
ROOT-BASED ACCOUNTS
There is no consensus as to the primitives of the nonconcatenative system but the most influential
proposal, originating with McCarthy (1979), is that
the notion of root (consisting of a consonantal
melody ranging over a semantic field and devoid
of category membership) is critical and may have
cognitive/mental reality.
ROOT-BASED ACCOUNTS
PRODUCTIVE VERBAL MEASURES
I
II
III
VI.
V
VI
VII
katab CVCVC
Basic form
kattab
CVCCVC Causative
kaatab
CVVCVC Reciprocal
ʔaktab
CVCCVC Trans/Caus
takattab
ta+II
Ref. of II
takaatab ta+III Ref. of III
nkatab
CCVCVC Inchoative
VIII.
IX.
X.
ktatab CCVCVC Ref/Int
ktabab
CCVCVC Color/defect
staktab
CCVCCVC Ref.
ROOTS AND PATTERNS
Four elements are needed to account for the
patterns:
• a. The consonantal root
• b. The template
• c. The vocalic melody
• d. A computational system that maps the
root and vocalic melody onto the template
(or a system that ties the patterns to the
root).
IDRISS ET AL. 2008
ARGUMENTS FOR ROOT
UR
fukaah-at
ʕušb
Target
Output
fukaaha
kufaah-a
ʕušb šubʕ
PROPERTIES OF THE THREE PLANES
• Consonantal root:
Semantic field.
• Vocalic melody: Tense/Aspect/Voice
• CV template:
Morphological category
QUADRILITERALS
• daħraj
• talfan
• baznas
(roll)
(telephone)
(to do business)
QUADRILITERALS
• No non-concatenative derivations (because
template is saturated).
• talfan: *taalfan; *tallafan
BROKEN PLURALS
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
fann
 funuun
CuCuuC
kaatib  kuttaab CuCCaaC
ražul
 rižaal
CiCaaC
CuCaC
dawla  duwal
safiina  sufun
CuCun
ʕalam  ʔaʕlaam ʔaCCaaC
žaar  žiiraan
CiCCaan
funduq fanaadiq CaCaaCiC
CONCATENATIVE DERIVATIONS
• Sound Plurals:
muʕallim  muʕallim+uun
• Duals:
kitaab

kitab+aan (vs. kutub)
• Subject Agreement:
Katab+uu
wrote-3mp
BROKEN PLURALS
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
fann
 funuun
kaatib  kuttaab
ražul
 rižaal
dawla  duwal
safiina  sufun
ʕalam  Ɂaʕlaam
žaar  žiiraan
funduq fanaadiq
CuCuuC
CuCCaaC
CiCaaC
CuCaC
CuCun
ɁaCCaaC
CiCCaan
CaCaaCiC
SINGULAR-PLURAL ALTERNATIONS
• Vowel alternations
• Glides:
saalfa
<-> swaaləf
driiša
<-> draayəš
• Geminates
gaSSaab <-> gaSaaSiib
TO SUMMARIZE: CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS:
ARABIC VERSUS ENGLISH
o Phonology:
• Emphatic Arabic phonemes
• Absent in Arabic:
-
/p/,/v/
- /l/,/r/, /ŋ/
- Consonant clusters (/rl/,/spr/)
• Syllable structure
- Stress
• Vowel system
- Restricted Arabic vowel inventory
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS :
ARABIC VERSUS ENGLISH
o Morphosyntax:
• Concatenative and non-concatenative forms of derivations
• Gender and number inflections:
- Nouns
- Adjectives
• Tense marking
• Possessive marker
• Word order
- Interrogative
- Passive structure
ARAB CULTURE AND SLP
SERVICES IN THE ARAB WORLD
CULTURAL VALUES:
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
o In Arabic, speech and language therapy is
referred to as “treatment”.
o It is argued that this term “carries the
implication of passive acceptance, rather than
active engagement, in the process of
rehabilitation……and exemplifies the cultural
focus on physical effects rather than mental
effects of communication disorders.” (KhamisDakwar & Froud, 2012).
CULTURAL VALUES:
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
Musayara
oLanguage impairments and recovery
are described using physical terms such
as “heavy tongue” rather than linguistic
or cognitive terms.
(Domico & Kardosh, 2009)
CULTURAL COMPETENCE
Available cultural resources:
• May be stereotyping and lacking consideration of diversity
within a population
•
May be insensitive and lacking understanding of self beliefs
and bias
“ I have lived among Arabs in the Middle East for four
decades now and I have seen the goodwill and curiosity
of those I meet. On the whole, they are nice people, in
many ways not all different from us” (Nydell, 2012. p.xxi)
“ Many young people in particular agonize about their
identity (family? Nation? Arab region? Religious or
secular?)and what constitutes appropriate life choices , a
dilemma that is simply unknown among Westerners”.
ONE LAST POINT ……
oConsanguity
oCultural Bilingualism
Global Prevalence of Consanguinity
www.consang.net/
Consanguinity in the Arab & Islamic World
Arabs
Other Islamic Countries
Saudi Arabia
50%
Pakistan50%
Sudan
UAE
Oman
Kuwait
Palestine
Jordan
Egypt
Tunisia
Lebanon
Syria
40%
35%
35%
34%
46%
26%
29%
27%
25%
18%
Iran
Turkey
Indonesia
Malaysia
30%
21%
18%
8%
SLP SERVICES: ARAB COUNTRIES
o Shortage of certified Arabic-speaking SLPs in
the Arab world.
• Kuwait- 42 SLPs
(Al-Khaledi, Lincoln, McCabea, Packmanb, & Alshatti, 2008)
- 16 SLPs per million
•
Egypt-125 phoniatricians & 250 logopedists
(Kotby, El-Sady, & Hegazi, 2010)
- 5 SLPs per million
o Paucity of academic and clinical resources
(Wilson, 1998; Khamis-Dakwar & Crowley, 2005, Khamis-Dakwar & Patel, 2005)
SLP SERVICES: U.S.
o Certified Arabic-speaking SLPs in the
U.S.
• Arabic bilingual certification
- Requires proficiency in MSA
• Undercounted?
o Paucity of academic and clinical
resources
(Wilson, 1998; Khamis-Dakwar & Crowley, 2005, Khamis-Dakwar & Patel,
2005)
ARABIC LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
oSparse literature on successive and
simultaneous Arabic-English bilingual
development
oTranslated versions of English resources used
(Elgibali, 2000; Wiig & El-Halees, 2000; Yaakobi, Hadie, & KhamisDakwar, 2003; Khamis-Dakwar & Crowley, 2005; Patel & KhamisDakwar, 2005; Khamis-Dakwar & Froud, 2012).
oStandardized English-based language tests
for used in the Arab world (e.g. Saleem & Dyson, 2003).
ISSUES IN ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN
FROM CLD POPULATION
• Assessment interpretation is seldom based on considerations of
cultural differences, English language proficiency, bilingualism,
among other factors (Heihir et al, 2005)
• SLPs tend to use standardized English tests in assessing bilingual
children ( Caeser & Kohler, 2007)
• Disproportionality (Valenti, 2007)
Over- diagnosis or under-diagnosis of children from specific
CLD background
• SLPs need to have the knowledge and skills needed to provide
culturally and linguistically appropriate services
ARAB-AMERICANS RUN THE SAME RISK
OF OVER- AND UNDER-IDENTIFICATION
OF LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT AS DO
MANY MINORITY GROUPS IN THE U.S.,
DUE TO INHERENT BIAS IN THE USE AND
INTERPRETATION OF NORMREFERENCED MEASURES.
CELF-4
PARTICIPANTS
o 40 typically developing Arab-American children
from New York and New Jersey
• Two Arab parents speaking Arabic at home
• Children reported to speak Arabic and English
• Found to be English dominant
o Age range 6:1-9:11
•
•
•
•
12 children 6:1-6:11
8 children 7:3-7:11
12 children 8:0-8:11
6 children 9:2-9:11
PARENTAL COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
8 Syrian
7 Egyptian
5 Jordanian
1 Iraqi
1 Algerian
1 Tunisian
1 Yemeni
5 Palestinian parents,
2 Moroccan parents
5 Palestinian and either Lebanese or Egyptian
2 Syrian and Yemeni parents
PROCEDURE
oParent questionnaire:
•
•
•
•
Family history
Child’s language/s formal and informal exposure
Perceived language proficiency
Child’s language and academic development
oCELF-4 administered by an Arabic-English
SLP, certified in N.Y.
RESULTS:
PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND EXPOSURE
Language Acquisition
o 8/38 simultaneous learners of Arabic and English
o 30/38 consecutive learners of Arabic and English
English Exposure
•
•
•
•
•
6 before 2 ½
9 at age 3
4 at age 4
10 at age 5
1 at age 6
Arabic Classes
o 19/38 no Arabic classes
o 19/38 Arabic classes at least twice a week
VISITS TO PARENTS’ COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN
o 7/38 Never
o 5/38 Once in 5-10 years
o 19/38 Once in 3-5 years
o 3/38 Biannually
o 4/38 Yearly
INCIDENTAL FINDINGS
o Importance of bilingualism
• 36 /38 Arab mothers believed that their child being bilingual
was either “important” or “very important”.
oConcern about Arabic loss
• 38/ 38 Arab mothers reported concern over their child’s loss of the
Arabic language.
oImportance of early exposure to language
• Arab mothers assigned less importance to language
exposure prior to age 2.
- Many parents did not report language exposure from 0-2
unless asked.
RESULTS: CELF-4
oAll participants engaged in the CELF based
tasks presented to them.
oParticipants preferred to respond in English
even when spoken to in Arabic
• One participant’s mother: “ You won’t be able to find
any child that can talk to you in Arabic….they all
speak English.”
CONCEPTS & FOLLOWING
DIRECTIONS
• Performance increased as
age increased
• Between group differences
were significant between all
age groups, except 6 and 7
years old (p=0.432) and 8
and 9 years old (p=0.102).
Age
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
Averag
e C&FD
raw
score
26.8333
3
31.125
41.4615
4
47
SD
C&FD
raw
score
14.6401
3
9.23406
7.19508
4
4.38178
• CFD: Directionality
effect
• First, last, fourth, third
WORD STRUCTURE
• Not significantly
different
between two
consecutive age
groups
Total Raw Score Word
Structure
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
6
7year WS
8 years 9 years WS
years_WS Raw score WS Raw Raw score
Raw score
score
TENSE MARKING VERSUS
INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES
PRONOUNS AND COPULAS
RESULTS: RECALLING SENTENCES
Mean
SD
6 years
32.58333
17.58852
7 years
41.125
8.708575
8 years
53.83333
11.57453
9 years
72.5
7.582875
80
70
60
o No significant
differences
between:
6 year old and 7
year old children
(p=0.168)
• 7 and 8 year old
children (p=0.012)
•
50
40
• BUT similar error
patterns
30
20
10
0
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
RECALLING SENTENCES: REPEATED
PATTERNS
o Additions/deletions of the article “the” and/or “a”
• Give example sentence number 22
• Mostly 7-8 years
o Reflexive pronoun errors (hisself/himself)
• Give example sentence number 4,9,10 (mostly in examples 4 &10)
• Mostly 6 years
o Tense agreement
• Give example sentence number is/was(5)
knows/know(9),were/was(11), like/likes17,sold/tosell24t
• All age groups
o Possessive marker
• Give example sentence number cat foot/cat's food (8)
• 6 years
RECALLING SENTENCES: REPEATED
PATTERNS
o Passive structure: Deletion or additions of by phrase
• Deletions (mostly 6 year olds): Give example of sentence number 13 (deletion of by
the teacher)
• Additions (mostly 7 year olds): Give example of addited by phrase
Xby/bythelibrarybytheteacher(13)
• Passive verb (8 and 9 year olds): Return/returned
o Relative pronoun errors
• that/who, whose/who, for/that
• Give example sentence number whose/who(9), who/that(21)
• whose/who(9), that/who(16)(20)
• Mostly 6 years
o Singular/Plural substitutions
• Give example sentence number 14 (girl and boys/girls and boys),and 11 (casrles
/castle)
• Singular instead of plural more prominent
• Mostly 6 and 7 years
Age
RECALLING SENTENCES: LEXICAL
SUBSTITUTIONS
Substitution
bus/ambulance(5), big/brown(8), Anybody or somebody /anyone (9),
coach/team(14), kindergarten/ner(10) ,castle or buildcastle /playcastle(11),
made/built(11),tomorrow/tonight(12),communities/computers(19),wall/board(1
9), so/very(20),boy/coach ; red shirt/uniform
(14),got/bought(17),buy(15),school/class(15),by/before(18)
anybody/anyone(9), kindergarten/gatner(10),big/ brown/,
7
years castle/playcastle(11), since/because(12) ,delete because(12), boys/team(14),
went to by/stopped to buy(15), ,worker or one/nurse(16), after/before(18), by or
soon/before(18),
Come or made /donated(19), person/student(20), get/buy
some(15),but/eventhough(15),happy/excited(20), children/students(22),
prepared/repaired(24)
8 years by / before, after/ before(2), library instead of librarians, anybody/anyone(9),
castle/playcastle(11), king'scastles/play castle(11),
since/because(12)today/tomorrow(12),wore/wrote(14),
worker/nurse(16),brought/bought(17), by/before(18),by, instead, or after/before
(18), communter board/school borad(19)
, person/student(20), get surprise/win a prize(21), class/dance(21),the report/the
book(22), team/trophy(23)
6
years
9
sandcastle/playcastle(11), told/asked (22),
RECALLING SENTENCES:
PREPOSITIONS SUBSTITUTIONS
Age
6
years
Substitution
put on/put in(6),delete of(ate all/ate all of)(8), stay
all/stayup(12),returned to/in(13), from/to(13),
to class/for class(15)
award from the art show/award at the art show(20), award in the/at the(20),
delete of/all of the cats's food(8), late at tonight/late tonight(12),
stopped for/to(15)
on/in the cage(6),ate all the/ate all of the(8), stay late up/stay up
late(12), to/for15,
works at/in(16) by/before noon(18)
8 years at/in the(16), to/for his friend(17), by/before18, by/before noon(18), from
instead of at, tickest for/to(21) ,at/on Saturday(23)
7
years
9
years
into the cage/in the cage(6), by/before(18), walked to/across (29)
RESULTS: FORMULATED SENTENCES
Mean raw scores: Formulated
sentences
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
oNon-statistically
significant score
differences between
consecutive groups
except 8 to 9.
• 6 and 7 (p=0.056)
• 7 and 8 year old children
(p=0.121)
• 8 and 9 (p<0.001)
• 6 and 8 (p=0.0003)
• 6 and 9 (p=4.6904E-06 )
• 7 and 9 (p=0.00015)
FORMULATED SENTENCES:
REPEATED PATTERNS
o Style: possible cultural effect
• Generally longer sentences than sentences presented in
the manual: Cultural style
• Third and first form productions (I and He)
o Additions/deletions of the article “the” and/or “a”
• Children are playing/the children are playing(1)
• Gave me the food(5); The mother gave the kid the
food/food(5),
• Mostly 6-7
o Subject drop
• Children are playing/The children are playing(1),
• Forgot/I forgot
• Running/they are running(2,8),
• Mostly 6
o Prepositions
• Playing on the video/playing video(1)
• Mostly 6 years
o Word order
• Always the boy takes a long time to wash his teeth and wash his
hands
• Never the dog stooped (6)
• The boy is quickly running (12)
• The boys are playing with their dad a video game; A video game
with their dad) (1)
• Finally I finished my report (7)
• The boy quickly tried to finish his breakfast and go outside (12)
• 7and 8 years; 8 years adjective before verb was prominent
o Tense agreement
• the children is playing(1)
• Until the store is open then they will go buy a bicycle
• If the bus stop/stops 13
• The girl is the best/was the best ???? This is correct either way.
• Before she finish/finishes shopping (15)
• Present progressive and future tense errors 6 years; Present tense 7
years
RESULTS: WORD CLASSES RECEPTIVE
Mean
• Cultural effect:
SD
6 years
19.91667
6.00694
7 years
23.875
4.454131
8 years
26.16667
2.366974
9 years
28.25
0.5
Differences
between
consecutive age
groups were not
statistically
significant.
• Clotheline, window,
door
• Dancing, hearing,
smelling
Possible background
knowledge effect:
• Alligator, cow, pig
• Lobster, seahorse,
rabbit
• Basket, box, boot
OBSERVATIONS
o Understanding
narrative:
• WHAT is this story about 
answer WHO is this story
about
• Explaining association by
elimination  by rejecting
the unassociated words
or self-description (I, You
use them in the bath)
o Style
• Direct versus indirect
• Formulated sentences
• Word Classes expressive
OBSERVED ARTICULATION DIFFERENCES
• ʃ/tʃ (cash/catch)
• d/ð, or t/ð (wit/with,
da/the)
• f/v
• ʒ /dʒ (gage/cage)
• j/w wheelchair
• i/I hirt/hurt
• R arabic
• Clusters:
• kalukator or
kakulator/calculator
• kinik/clinic,
connuty/community
• renember/remember
• gil/girl
• Epenthesis
gartener/gartner
CONSIDERATIONS FOR EVALUATION
• Evaluate L1 and L2: Consider that heritage speakers of Arabic
may have incomplete acquisition of Arabic (Albirini et al, 2011).
• Similar error patterns in L1 and L2 may be due to underlined by different
basis
• Informal alternative approaches to assessment
• Dynamic assessment
• Portfolio assessment
• Observations
• Speech sampling
• CALP/BICS assessment
• Curriculum-based assessment
DISCUSSION
o Relationship between cognition and language
o The flaw in using scores: Raw score differences were not
statistically significant in children’s performances in most subtests
o Cultural factors: familiar names
o Transfer effect
o Linguistic markers
• Inflectional morphemes might not be used as a marker for SLI in Arabic
speaking children who learned English as a second language
• Further studies should examine the validity of tense marking errors as
markers of language impairment in Arabic –English bilinguals
http://home.adelphi.edu/~nslplab/PDFS/BilingualServi
cestoASHA_WholeResource.pdf