Mainstreaming Arabic Second Language Acquisition Research

Authors

  • Mustafa Mughazy Western Michigan University

Abstract

The papers included in this issue represent the current dominant trend in Arabic second language acquisition research in the United States: micro-level research designs, combining quantitative and qualitative research tools to address specific empirical questions aimed to improve the quality of instruction, learning opportunities, and teaching materials. This trend draws on theoretical models of the acquisition of a wide range of languages to demonstrate that the acquisition of Arabic, despite its structural and sociolinguistic “unique” properties, follows universal cognitive patterns, even if some of these properties might require special attention. At the same time, these research designs, while attempting to better understand the processes involved in the acquisition of particular linguistic features of Arabic, feed back into generalizable theoretical models of language acquisition beyond Arabic.

Author Biography

Mustafa Mughazy, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University

References

Al-Batal, M. (2018). Dialect integration in the Arabic foreign language curriculum: Vision, rationale and models. In M. Al-Batal (Ed.), Arabic as one language: Integrating dialect in the Arabic language curriculum (pp. 3–22). Georgetown University Press.

Al-Batal, M., & Belnap, R. K. (2006). The teaching and learning of Arabic in the United States: Realities, needs, and future directions. In K. Wahba, Z. Taha, & L. England (Eds.), Handbook for Arabic language teaching professionals in the 21st century (pp. 389–39). Routledge.

Albirini, A. (2015). The role of the colloquial varieties in the acquisition of the standard variety: The case of Arabic heritage speakers. Foreign Language Annals, 47(3), 447-463. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12087

Albirini, A., & Benmamoun, E. (2012). Aspects of second language transfer in the production of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18(3), 244–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006912441729

Bird, S., & Williams, J. (2002). The effect of bimodal input on implicit and explicit memory: An investigation into the benefits of within-language subtitling. Applied Psycholinguistics, 23, 509–533. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716402004022

Flynn, S., Foley, C., & Vinnitskaya, I. (2004). The cumulative-enhancement model for language acquisition: Comparing adults’ and children’s patterns of development in first, second, and third language acquisition of relative clauses. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1, 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710408668175

Montero Perez, M., Peters, E., & Desmet, P. (2014). Is less more? Effectiveness and perceived usefulness of keyword and full captioned video for L2 listening comprehension. ReCALL, 26(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344013000256

Rothman, J. (2010). On the typological economy of syntactic transfer: Word order and relative clause high/low attachment preference in L3 Brazilian Portuguese. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 48(2–3), 245–273. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral.2010.011

Rothman, J. (2011). L3 syntactic transfer selectivity and typological determinacy: The typological primacy model. Second Language Research, 27(1), 107–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658310386439

Rothman, J. (2015). Linguistic and cognitive motivations for the Typological Primacy Model of third language (L3) transfer: Timing of acquisition and proficiency considered. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 18(2), 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891300059X

Rothman, J., & Cabrelli Amaro, J. (2010). What variables condition syntactic transfer? A look at the L3 initial state. Second Language Research, 26(2), 189–218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658309349410

Showalter, C., & Hayes-Harb, R. (2015). Native English speakers learning Arabic: The influence of novel orthographic information on second language phonological acquisition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(1), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0142716414000411

Sorace, A. (2005). Selective optionality in language development. In L. Cornips, & K. Corrigan (Eds.), Syntax and variation: Reconciling the biological and the social (pp. 55-80). John Benjamins.

Sorace, A. (2011). Pinning down the concept of “interface” in bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to bilingualism 1(1), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.1.1.01sor

Sorace, A. (2014). Input, timing, and outcomes in a wider model of bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 4, 377-380. https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.4.3.14sor

Sorace, A., & Serratrice, L. (2009). Internal and external interfaces in bilingual language development: Beyond structural overlap. International Journal of Bilingualism, 13, 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006909339810

Stevens, P. B. (2006). Is Spanish really so easy? Is Arabic really so hard?: Perceived difficulty in learning Arabic as a second language. In K. Wahba, Z. Taha, & L. England (Eds.), Handbook for Arabic language teaching professionals in the 21st century (pp. 35–63). Routledge.

Vanderplank, R. (1988). The value of teletext sub-titles in language learning. English Language Teaching Journal, 42(4), 272–281.

Wiley, R. W., Wilson, C., & Rapp, B. (2016). The effects of alphabet and expertise on letter perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42(8), 1186–1203. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000213

Westergaard, M., Mitrofanova, N., Mykhaylyk, R., & Rodina, Y. (2017). Crosslinguistic influence in the acquisition of a third Language: The linguistic Proximity Model. International Journal of Bilingualism, 21(6), 666–82. https://doi.org/org/10.1177/1367006916648859

Younes, M. (2015). The Integrated approach to Arabic instruction. Routledge.

Additional Files

Published

12/31/2022

How to Cite

Mughazy, M. (2022). Mainstreaming Arabic Second Language Acquisition Research. Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), i-xi. Retrieved from https://arjals.com/ajal/article/view/363

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2022): Mainstreaming Arabic Second Language Acquisition Research

Section

Introduction (Guest editor)

License

By submitting to AJAL, authors agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors grant the journal right of first publication, with the work for an indefinite period of time after publication.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.