Arabic metalinguistic knowledge predicts reading comprehension: A scoping review

Abstract

Arabic is a language with unique characteristics, yet the role metalinguistic skills (i. e., phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and orthographical knowledge) play in the development of reading and reading comprehension in Arabic is not well understood. This review aims to: (1) synthesize studies that examine metalinguistic skills' contribution to reading comprehension in Arabic, (2) emphasize gaps and limitations within the current body of literature, and (3) offer recommendations for further research. This review followed a five-stage methodological framework to identify studies. Sixteen studies examined the relation between metalinguistic skills and reading comprehension in Arabic. These studies involved students in grades 1–12. Morphological awareness was found to be the strongest predictor of reading comprehension among Arabic children; in addition, phonological awareness and phonemic diacritics were found to be associated with reading comprehension in early grades. Lastly, this review identified a significant gap in the literature, as few studies have investigated orthographical knowledge in relation to Arabic reading development and outcomes. This literature review supports the claim that metalinguistic variables can predict reading comprehension among Arabic readers. Yet, the generalization of findings is cautioned due to the influences of dialect and the small number of studies involved in the review. These results are discussed in relation to the current teaching guidelines for instructing Arabic reading comprehension.

Evaluating the Efficacy of an Arabic Metalinguistic Awareness Training Program

“…They concluded that teachers could not answer half of the questions correctly, and almost two-thirds lacked basic explicit knowledge. Similarly, in a recent study of 221 Saudi Arabian teachers, Bin Sawad & Law (2022) found that, on average, teachers struggled to correctly answer one-half of the explicit metalinguistic knowledge items presented, where the average teacher participant could only properly answer 11 of the 28 questions.…”

“…Within the Rational Planning model, the learners' needs are first identified, and then learning outcomes are selected accordingly, followed by the designation of the teaching approach. Accordingly, the training offered within this study was developed after applying the Arabic metalinguistic knowledge assessment tool to identify teachers' difficulties (Bin Sawad & Law, 2022). To examine the relative difficulty of the metalinguistic knowledge assessment items, Rasch model analysis for a dichotomous response was used (Devrilmez et al, 2019).…”

“…To satisfy the assessment portion of the Rational Planning model and in keeping in line with previously reported professional development studies (Bos et al, 1999;Foorman & Moats, 2004;McCutchen et al, 2002;Moats & Foorman, 2003), the impact of training on teachers' explicit metalinguistic knowledge was measured using our validated metalinguistic assessment tool (Bin Sawad & Law, 2022). To acquire an understanding of the major factors which influence the acquisition and development of reading in Saudi Arabia A2…”

“…Given the demonstrated importance of metalinguistic knowledge to literacy achievement in the Arabic language (Al Ghanem & Kearns, 2015;Mahfoudhi et al, 2010;Tibi et al, 2020; for a review see Bin Sawad & Law, 2022), the limitation of the Saudi literacy curriculum may be one contributing factor in explaining the poor performance of Saudi Arabian students on the 2011 and 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), where they scored below the average, ranking forty-four on a list of fifty countries (Mullis et al, 2017). This poor performance was additionally noted in the 2018 reading assessment portion of the Program for International Assessment (PISA) as Saudi Arabian 15 year olds were found to average a score of 399 in reading, compared to the global average of 489 (PISA, 2018).…”

“…However, teacher preparation programs in Saudi Arabia follow the national curriculum standards, focusing on orthographic skills alone, with no requirement for educators to show or obtain explicit knowledge of Arabic language concepts, including phonology and morphology (Al Ghanem & Kearns, 2015;Alqahtani, 2020;Taibah & Haynes, 2011). As a result, Saudi primary teachers often lack explicit knowledge and skills related to these concepts (Bin Sawad & Law, 2022).…”