Arabic Diglossia and Heritage Arabic Speakers

Albirini, Abdulkafi; Benmamoun, Elabbas

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-80072-7_15

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…We also examine the relationship between narrative microstructure and macrostructure. Although the concept of diglossia may not be straightforwardly maintained in the context of Arab immigrants (Albirini & Benmamoun, in press), the study directly tested this question and investigated the linguistic manifestation of diglossia in the lexicon used by children in narrative production. Because the children in our sample were born in their Arab country of origin and had received some instruction, though often interrupted, in Arabic in these countries, our analysis of microstructure focused on the lexical distance between SpA and StA as it is reflected in storytelling, and we probed whether lexical distance features into the relationship between microstructure and macrostructure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada

Asli‐Badarneh¹,

Hipfner-Boucher²,

Bumgardner³

et al. 2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and objectives: The study investigated narrative microstructure skills of Arabic-speaking immigrant children in Canada ( N = 75; age range 7–12 years) with specific focus on diglossia and the lexical distance between Spoken Arabic (SpA) and Standard Arabic (StA). The study also tested the relationship between microstructure and macrostructure and probed into the relative importance of general versus diglossia-specific features of microstructure in predicting macrostructure. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were asked to tell a story from a picture using an Arabic version of the Test of Narrative Language (Gillam & Pearson, 2004). Instructions to participants were given in StA. Data and analysis: General measures of microstructure were coded: number of tokens, number of types, type/token ratio, and mean length of utterance (MLU). In addition to these general measures, we coded the average frequency of five diglossia-specific word types: (a) identical words, which keep the same phonological form in StA and SpA; (b) SpA cognates, namely, cognate words that keep different yet related forms in StA and SpA, used in their SpA form; (c) StA cognates, cognate words used in their StA forms; (d) unique SpA words; and (e) unique StA words. Regression analysis was used to predict macrostructure from general and diglossia-specific features of microstructure. Findings/conclusions: Results showed that the bulk of the lexicon of the narratives produced by immigrant children consisted of words and word forms that are within SpA: identical words, SpA cognates, and unique SpA words; StA word forms appeared less frequently, and English code-switched words were very rare. Results also showed that the microstructure features of narrative length in tokens and type/token ratio significantly predicted macrostructure beyond the children’s age and Arabic language proficiency. However, when diglossia-specific lexical features were added as predictors, the frequency of StA words predicted unique variance in macrostructure beyond age, Arabic language proficiency, and narrative length. Findings advance our understanding of narrative skills in Arabic diglossia among new immigrants and the role of lexical distance in narrative production in this context. Originality: The study is innovative in investigating the manifestation of diglossia in narrative microstructure features and the role of diglossia-specific features in predicting macrostructure, as well as in testing this question among immigrant children. Significance/implications: The study demonstrates the multifaceted lexicon of diglossic Arabic speakers as reflected in the microstructure of their narratives and the prevalence of SpA word forms in their lexicons. The study also demonstrates a significant relationship between microstructure and macrostructure, and the important role of StA lexical features of microstructure in predicting macrostructure. The results of the study have theoretical implications for the importance of lexical distance in understanding narrative production in children at both the microstructure and macrostructure levels. The study also has practical implications for assessment and intervention with Arabic-speaking children in diglossic Arabic.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada

Asli‐Badarneh¹,

Hipfner-Boucher²,

Bumgardner³

et al. 2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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“That’s not Arabic, ya ḥabībi, it’s Libyan!”: Negotiating language boundaries, hierarchies, and policies in Arabic supplementary schools

Gaiser

2023

Journal of Arabic Sociolinguistics

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This paper examines language use and policies in Arabic supplementary schools in the UK to explore how language teachers and learners negotiate and renegotiate sociolinguistic hierarchies and boundaries between language varieties. It draws on long-term ethnographic research in three Arabic supplementary schools in Manchester, with a particular focus on one case study school. Classroom participation and observation, informal interviews, and linguistic landscapes (offline and online) offer insights into language practices and reported practices, revealing discrepancies between language policy and actual language use. The article demonstrates how language beliefs and ideologies held at wider global scales play out locally, shaping imagined hierarchies of language resources in the diverse urban diaspora setting. It shows how in the supplementary school, staff and pupils redefine the status and relevance of “Arabic” versus English. Furthermore, the paper discusses the tensions between fuṣḥā and non-standardized varieties that are at the center of decision-making processes relating to target language and language of instruction in the classroom. This article argues that language policies are to be understood as emerging and operating within wider “interactional regimes,” encompassing declared and practiced policies, actors’ dynamic understandings of their language resources, and local and translocal language ideologies.

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Arabic Diglossia and Heritage Arabic Speakers

Cited by 2 publications

References 36 publications

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada

Narrative microstructure and macrostructure skills in Arabic diglossia: The case of Arab immigrant children in Canada

“That’s not Arabic, ya ḥabībi, it’s Libyan!”: Negotiating language boundaries, hierarchies, and policies in Arabic supplementary schools

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