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Decomposing the Variance in Reading Comprehension to Reveal the Unique and Common Effects of Language and Decoding
Published on: October 11, 2018
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Reading Comprehension in the Arabic Diglossia: The SVR Between the Spoken and Literary Varieties
Ibrahim A Asadi1,2, Ronen Kasperski3,4
1Department of Special Education and Learning Disabilities, The Academic Arab College for Education, 22 Hahashmal St., P.O. Box 8340, Haifa, Israel. wwwasadi@gmail.com.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|March 12, 2024
Summary
The simple view of reading (SVR) model shows varying predictive power for Arabic reading comprehension. Listening comprehension is more crucial for spoken Arabic, while decoding is key for literary Arabic.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Educational Psychology
- Linguistics
Background:
- The "simple view of reading" (SVR) model is a foundational theory in reading research.
- Arabic is a diglossic language, featuring distinct spoken and literary varieties.
- Understanding reading development in diglossic contexts is crucial for effective pedagogy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the validity of the SVR model in the Arabic language.
- To examine the longitudinal predictive relationship between decoding, listening comprehension (LC), and reading comprehension (RC).
- To determine if the contribution of LC to RC differs between spoken and literary Arabic varieties.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design.
- Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis.
- Participants: 261 kindergartners followed to first grade.
Main Results:
- The SVR model explained similar variance in both spoken (52%) and literary (48%) Arabic.
- Listening comprehension (LC) contributed more to reading comprehension (RC) in the spoken variety.
- Decoding contributed more to reading comprehension (RC) in the literary variety.
Conclusions:
- The SVR model's applicability varies across Arabic's spoken and literary forms.
- Diglossia significantly impacts the development of reading comprehension skills in Arabic.
- Findings have implications for Arabic reading instruction and theory.
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