Age, experience and language and literacy skills in english-arabic speaking syrian refugees
Author
Al-Janaideh, Redab
Chen, Xi
Amin, Norah
Publication date
2023ISSN
2226-471X
Abstract
Although age of acquisition (AoA) is frequently used when examining the endpoint of second language (L2) learning, it is rarely used to examine the initial phases of L2 acquisition. The present study provided a unique look at the role of AoA in early language and literacy acquisition in the L2 by a priori selecting two groups of Arabic-English speakers based on their ages, 6–8-year-olds (N = 43) and 9–13-year-olds (N = 53). These Syrian refugees were matched on English experience, having immigrated to Canada and having learned English for two years or less. Raw scores on language and literacy measures were compared across groups. The older group had higher scores on all first language (L1) variables. The groups did not differ on most L2 variables except for English word reading. Additionally, L1 and L2 variables were examined in relation to English word and pseudoword reading with different patterns of relations found for the two groups. For the younger group, phonological awareness and vocabulary were related to reading, while for the older group phonological awareness and morphological awareness were key predictors. These finding points to the unique relations among age, age of acquisition, L1 skills, and L2 language and literacy skills.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
00 - Prolegomena. Fundamentals of knowledge and culture. Propaedeutics
Keywords
Lectura
Àrab-anglès
Segona llengua
Lectura
Ingles arabico
Segundo lenguaje
Reading
Arabic-english
Second language
Pages
22
Publisher
MDPI
Collection
8; 2
Is part of
Languages
Citation
Gottardo, Alexandra; Al-Janaideh, Redab; Paradis, Johanne [et al.]. Age, experience and language and literacy skills in english-arabic speaking syrian refugees. Languages, 2023, 8(2), 101. Disponible en: <https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/8/2/101>. Fecha de acceso: 18 oct. 2023. DOI: 10.3390/languages8020101.
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Humanitats [134]
Rights
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/