The impact of lexical and phonological distance on reading acquisition: The diglossic context of Arabic.

Background: Arabic is recognised as diglossic; one manifestation of diglossia is the co‐existence of two varieties of the language used in different social settings: standard (or literary) Arabic (StA) and spoken Arabic (SpA). The study investigated the impact of lexical–phonological distance in Arabic (identical, cognate, unique, which are different types of words) on reading accuracy and fluency across grade levels. Methods: The participants were 180 native Arabic‐speaking children first and second graders. Participants were asked to read three‐word lists comprising words of three different lexical distance from spoken Arabic (identical, cognates and unique) and three text selections representing similar lexical distance (mostly identical, mostly cognates and mostly unique). Results: The findings showed a main effect of the word and text lexical distance fluency and accuracy reading scores. There was also a main effect of grade level on both scores. In addition, a significant interaction between the word and type words text lexical distance and grade level was found. The results revealed a more significant gap between the identical and the other two lexical distance categories (cognates and unique) in the second grade than in the first grade. Similarly, a more significant disparity was observed between the mostly identical type words and mostly cognate type word texts compared to unique type word texts in the second grade than in the first grade. Conclusions: The results highlight the importance of StA knowledge and the centrality of diglossia lexical–phonological distance categories in reading, especially the contribution of reading StA words to text reading. The higher performance levels when reading identical compared to unique and cognate words and texts are discussed in light of the theoretical approaches to diglossic lexical–phonological distance. The results point to the centrality of diglossia lexical–phonological distance categories in reading. Highlights: What is already known about this topic: The Arabic language may challenge children's linguistic abilities.The linguistic distance in diglossic Arabic was found to impact the acquisition of linguistic skills in StA. Diglossia is the discrepancy between the spoken Arabic form and standard Arabic form, which are used in different social settings.Diglossia affects word reading development. What this paper adds: It highlights the gap between the identical and the other two lexical distance categories (cognates and unique) in the second grade than in the first grade. It also reveals the disparity between the mostly identical type words and mostly cognate type words texts compared to unique type words texts in the second grade than in the first grade.It highlights the impact of Arabic diglossia, specially relating to specific text types and word types (identical, cognates and unique) and its impact on reading. Implications for theory, policy or practice: The study highlights the importance of diglossic lexical–phonological distance in understanding the reading process in Arabic.Future work may want to examine whether promoting the lexical phonological representations of StA words helps learning to read in Arabic. This may include exposing children to standard Arabic words, such as cognate and unique words, from the early stages of reading development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]