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Syntax Functions and Reading Comprehension in Arabic Orthography

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Title: Syntax Functions and Reading Comprehension in Arabic Orthography
Language: English
Authors: Abu-Rabia, Salim (ORCID 0000-0003-1035-5641)
Source: Reading Psychology. 2021 42(7):700-729.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 30
Publication Date: 2021
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Grade 7
Junior High Schools
Middle Schools
Secondary Education
Descriptors: Semitic Languages, Written Language, Vowels, Syntax, Phonemes, Reading Comprehension, Phonological Awareness, Alphabets, Bilingualism, Grammar, Grade 7, Middle School Students
DOI: 10.1080/02702711.2021.1912866
ISSN: 0270-2711
Abstract: The Arabic writing system allows for two representations: vowelized or non-vowelized. The vowelized writing, which characterizes the writing in the Koran, classical literature and children's books, includes the long and short vowels and all the vowels, including the vowels that express syntax functions (the final vowels). In non-vowelized writing, only the consonants and long vowels appear. The goal of the present study was to examine syntax functions and the extent to which they influenced the reading comprehension of Arab students. Ninety students participated in the study: One group received a text and questions with full vowels, while the other group received a text and questions without short vowels. One week later, the participants were given a second task. A week later, the participants were given a text and tested for reading comprehension. Certain words in the text were highlighted, and the students were asked to explain these words and to define their syntactic function. The results showed that the students given the vowelized texts achieved significantly higher grades than those who worked on the non-vowelized texts. Moreover, it was found that the greater the student's knowledge of grammar and syntax, the better her/his understanding of the meaning of the words.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2021
Accession Number: EJ1314492
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0152850920;bcw01oct.21;2021Oct08.05:35;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0152850920-1">Syntax Functions and Reading Comprehension in Arabic Orthography </title> <sbt id="AN0152850920-2">Introduction</sbt> <p>The Arabic writing system allows for two representations: vowelized or non-vowelized. The vowelized writing, which characterizes the writing in the Koran, classical literature and children's books, includes the long and short vowels and all the vowels, including the vowels that express syntax functions (the final vowels). In non-vowelized writing, only the consonants and long vowels appear. The goal of the present study was to examine syntax functions and the extent to which they influenced the reading comprehension of Arab students. Ninety students participated in the study: One group received a text and questions with full vowels, while the other group received a text and questions without short vowels. One week later, the participants were given a second task. A week later, the participants were given a text and tested for reading comprehension. Certain words in the text were highlighted, and the students were asked to explain these words and to define their syntactic function. The results showed that the students given the vowelized texts achieved significantly higher grades than those who worked on the non-vowelized texts. Moreover, it was found that the greater the student's knowledge of grammar and syntax, the better her/his understanding of the meaning of the words.</p> <p>The goal of this research was to examine the extent to which syntax functions influence reading comprehension in Arabic orthography among Arab students in Israel. The study was undertaken in one of the middle schools in the northern part of the country. The students came from middle to high socio-economic backgrounds; all were Muslim and born in Israel.</p> <p>Few studies have explored syntax functions in the Arabic language, since most of the research has been undertaken on the Romance languages and has focused on grammar, and not on syntax functions (الإعراب). The results from studies on the topic have not produced clear conclusions (Barnett, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref1">20</reflink>]). Results from Barnett's ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref2">20</reflink>]) research, which was carried out on people who read French, as a second language, found a negative correlation between syntax and reading comprehension. In a different study, undertaken by Bateson ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref3">22</reflink>]), the researcher proposed that words in Arabic have rich linguistic traits in semantics, and that there is no need to use syntax functions, since they are insignificant when it comes to reading comprehension. In Parkinson's ([<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref4">62</reflink>]) study, the researcher learned that Arabic speakers, who are skilled in standard Arabic, do not pay attention to vowels or syntax functions (الإعراب).</p> <p>Based on the above, it can be concluded that there is no consensus on the influence of syntax functions on reading comprehension. Therefore, it is important to undertake further research in order to reach a deeper and more reliable understanding of the impact of syntax functions on reading comprehension.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-3">Literature Review</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0152850920-4">The Development of Reading</hd> <p>Reading is a learned cognitive process that begins with the visual deciphering of written signs, and ends with the production of the meaning of words in the mental lexicon, located in long-term memory. In other words, it ends with understanding of the written words (Bentin & Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref5">23</reflink>]). Unlike speaking, which is acquired at a very young age, usually in an effortless manner, reading is a complex task. Reading is usually acquired after age six, and is neither a natural nor a simple process. In every writing system, reading is a complex process that includes cognitive and environmental processes and requires the construction of a systematic, consistent and rational learning process (Perfetti & Rieben, [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref6">63</reflink>]). The acquisition of reading is also a developmental process that requires a graduated transition between different developmental processes, until the individual becomes skilled in efficient and automatic reading. In other words, quick and exact phonological deciphering takes places, which leads to the production of meaning.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-5">Phonological Awareness and Reading</hd> <p>Phonological awareness and reading, which are sensitive to phonetic differences and to categorization of phonetic units/phonemes, are based on phonetic differences. Awareness of these differences, and the phonetic structure of the phonetic units/phonemes (including words), appears at a relatively late age and requires meta-linguistic experience or explicit learning (Chiappe & Siegel, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref7">26</reflink>]).</p> <p>In the literature, the term "phonological awareness" denotes the basic units from which the words and the phonetic structure of the words are formed. This awareness makes it possible for the individual to focus attention on the language as an object, and to engage in conscious evaluation of the language (Thomas, [<reflink idref="bib82" id="ref8">82</reflink>]). Studies have focused on the different aspects of this ability. One of the aspects addressed in the present study is the association between bilingualism and conscious meta-linguistic development, in general, and phonological awareness, in specific. It argues that bi-lingual children, who are native English speakers, have higher meta-linguistic awareness than monolingual children do.</p> <p>Concerning Arabic, it was argued that bilingual children learn to differentiate between two different systems of language rules. The differentiation strategies are based on listening to systematic aspects in each language. Research results have shown that bilingual children have a better understanding of the arbitrariness of the language structure, their approach to syntax is more analytical and they are more aware of the phonological structure of the words than monolingual children are (Wattad & Abu-Rabia, [<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref9">85</reflink>]). However, their vocabulary is smaller than the vocabulary of monolingual children (Segalowitz, Champage & Doyle, [<reflink idref="bib72" id="ref10">72</reflink>]).</p> <p>Another aspect that has been studied is the relationship between phonological awareness and learning to read. This relationship is anchored in the perception that the phonological approach connects to reading acquisition. This approach asserts that in order to decipher written words, the child must learn the mapping rules between groups of letters and groups of phonemes. Since this learning process is part of a conscious cognitive process, the child must be acquainted with the syntax members of both groups. For example, in order for the child to understand the relationship between the letter "b" and the phoneme/B/, s/he needs to know that the word "bend" and the word "bat" begin with the same phoneme. If the child thinks that the words "bend" and "bat" begin with different phonemes, it will be hard for her/him to understand that use of the same first letter in writing is not arbitrary.</p> <p>This perspective has led to many empirical studies. A series of studies (Bertelson et al., [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref11">24</reflink>]; Eviatar & Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref12">32</reflink>]; Leshem & Bentin, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref13">53</reflink>]) found that the level of phonological awareness in nursery school is a good measurement for the prediction of success in learning to read in elementary school. This finding suggests that phonological awareness precedes the ability to read. Nevertheless, finding a correlation between the two phenomena does not explain the nature of the relationship between the phenomena. Moreover, it does not allow us to reach a conclusion concerning the existence of a causal connection between the phenomena.</p> <p>Indeed, in a series of studies, undertaken in the 1980s, by Bertelson et al. ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref14">24</reflink>]), among groups of Portuguese adults, who could neither read nor write, the researchers found that similar to preschoolers, the adults had difficulty performing tasks of phonetic segmentation. In contrast, other adults from the same communities, who had taken adult literacy classes, performed the tasks without any difficulties. These results led Bertelson et al. ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref15">24</reflink>]) to propose that the development of phonological awareness is not a spontaneous linguistic maturation process, but rather the result of exposure to the alphabetic principle.</p> <p>This idea was supported by results that showed that children who learned to read via the method of "the entire word" perform worse on tests of phonological awareness than children who learned via the "analytical" method, which emphasizes the alphabetic principle. Children, who begin school without a strong enough phonological basis, may have difficulties in internalizing the alphabetic principle, especially if their teachers do not explicitly teach it. Moreover, it is possible that, for these children, being exposed to writing is not enough for the quick and smooth development of the phonetic awareness needed to learn the rules concerning the conversion of letters to phonemes. These children will have difficulty learning how to read.</p> <p>There is also the danger that, due to this basic difficulty, the children will gradually fall behind; they will develop an aversion to reading and be perceived as under-achievers. Studies that employed the methods of practicing phonological awareness show that it is possible to prevent this difficulty, or alternatively, to deal with it by explicitly teaching the phonemic structure of the spoken language (Leshem & Bentin, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref16">53</reflink>]). When considering Arabic, Eviatar and Ibrahim ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref17">32</reflink>]) found that the level of phonological awareness of Arab children was similar to that of Russian-speaking children. Both groups had higher levels than Hebrew-speaking children did.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-6">The Orthographic Arabic System</hd> <p>Literary Arabic is written in an alphabetic system that has 28 basic letters. This is a system of consonants, which is read and written from right to left. Nevertheless, there are certain exceptions that require the mature/advanced reader to approach the text with deep knowledge of literary Arabic, including syntax, grammar, vocabulary and ability to interpret context. As noted above, verbs, nouns and adjectives are a combination of root letters and short vowels. The addition of short vowels (diacritics to the root) provide specific meanings and specific stimuli. Moreover, the ends of words in texts provide evidence concerning the grammatical function of the sentence.</p> <p>In most modern written literary texts, short vowels are not provided. As a result, the reader must understand that they are there, based on the context or on previous linguistic knowledge of grammar, syntax and exposure to print (Abu-Rabia, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref18">10</reflink>]). Reading Arabic script without short vowels can be an arduous task for poor or beginner readers, because of the similarity between the words and the letters and homographs. Only one shavtz solely differentiates certain letters from one another, or the letters may be undifferentiated in terms of their phonology, in the spoken dialect of spoken Arabic.</p> <p>Arabic reflects a diglossic situation, in which the spoken language differs from the literary writing. When children in the first grade first encounter literary Arabic, they are faced with a new language, in terms of writing, reading and speaking. The operative letter in Arabic changes according to its place in the word. Some of the letters have three different forms: one in the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end of the word. Furthermore, there are different rules for writing each form. Knowledge of the nature of these letters, the different rules of writing, which are based on the letters' different functions, and acquaintance with the different short vowels that are below, above and in the letters, are critical for the reader's correct pronunciation of the words. This may demand substantial cognitive attention. Moreover, the diacritics of the short vowels, placed above and/or below the letters, change the pronunciation of the sound of the letter. As a result, reading a text that is written with all the vowels and diacritics can be a very difficult cognitive task for the beginning reader, who, simultaneously, needs to process the numerous rules in order to extract the meaning from the word, or read the word aloud. A simple mistake can lead to errors in deciphering, due to confusion of letters that have the same form (Abu-Rabia et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref19">18</reflink>]).</p> <p>Orthography is the system of graphic signs used for writing a language and the system of rules that describe how to write these graphemes. It includes the rules for spelling and punctuation of the language. Arabic orthography presents many difficulties for the reader. In Arabic, there are 12 phonemes: 12 Arabic letters and six vowels. Each letter is represented by a consonant phoneme, except for the "aleph," which has a number of different orthographic uses (for example, emphasis of the – Hamza, Holes, [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref20">41</reflink>]). Out of these consonants, three letters reflect long vowels (ا, و,ي), but they can also be consonants. There are also three short vowels, represented by small points that appear above and under the letters. These signs represent an optional system of diacritic signs, which add to meaning (Most, Levin, & Sarsour, [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref21">61</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-7">The Process of Reading in Arabic Orthography: Linguistic and Orthographic Characteristics</hd> <p>The psycho-linguistic approach focuses on the impact of diglossia on children's acquisition of literary Arabic. For example, it measures reading speed/flow, reading comprehension and meta-linguistic awareness. There is consensus among many researchers that the diglossia in the Arabic language significantly influences poor reading achievements of students in Arab schools in comparison to students in the Hebrew educational system (Abu-Rabia et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref22">18</reflink>]).</p> <p>The relationship between diglossia in Arabic and difficulty in reading has been examined in elementary schools (Abu Rabia, 2000): levels of reading comprehension of children in the first and second grades, who were exposed to literary Arabic in their preschool years, were compared to reading comprehension of children in the control group, who had only been exposed to spoken Arabic. The researcher found that exposure to the literary language, at an early age, improves reading comprehension and improves reading skills two years later.</p> <p>As noted above, in terms of orthography, the forms of the letters in Arabic change according to their place in the word and the forms of many letters are identical. Arabic and Hebrew differ from one another in a few ways: in the number of vowels (one, two, three points/vowels) and in the vowels' positions (above the letter, under the letter and inside the letter). The written letters are connected to one another. Young children have difficulty differentiating between them, in comparison to older people, who tend to prefer reading cursive writing to printed writing. Therefore, in order to acquire knowledge about Arabic letters, special pedagogical effort is needed, because of the difficulty of the orthographic system for beginning readers.</p> <p>Another factor that can account for slow reading and for mistakes in word identification connects to the system of signs (the vowels) that represent the vowels that are added to the letters, according to the rules of grammar. Similar to Hebrew, in Arabic, the non-vowelized writing creates homographs that can be read in different ways and have different meanings (Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref23">47</reflink>]).</p> <p>Similarly, Taha ([<reflink idref="bib78" id="ref24">78</reflink>]) asserted that the orthographic representation of the templates of Arabic words, characterized by the changing form of the letter, adds a visual burden to the reader when trying tries to decipher unfamiliar words and identify known words. These include the position of the letter, the letters that come before and after it, the vowels placed above and below the letters, and the structural vowels in some of the letters (above and below them).</p> <p>It is also important to note that punctuation/vowels is an important component of the texts that young readers try to read. As they become advanced readers, this component disappears. Therefore, texts intended for advanced readers are usually written without short vowels/punctuation (Abu-Rabia and Siegel, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref25">5</reflink>]). Other researchers have even asserted that since skilled readers succeed in reading non-vowelized texts, adding the vowels to the texts may decrease their reading flow (Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref26">47</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-8">Reading Acquisition in Arabic</hd> <p>When beginning to read Arabic, like in all languages, the students first begin with letter identification, including their different forms, and are required to remember the names of the letters and their sounds. In this first stage, the letters are learned according to their different position in the same phoneme. The sound that is attached to each Arabic letter represents the sound of the consonant, with which the letter begins. Each letter is learned gradually, in connection to the short or long vowels, or in connection to their absence. Therefore, students need to become acquainted with the three sounds of the short vowels (فتحة, ضمة, كسرة), and there is a need to expose the students to the "sukun" vowels that represent a sound of consonant that begins the name of the letter.</p> <p>In the beginning, the text needs to be vowelized so that the students can succeed in reading. They need to learn the rules that convert letter to sounds, gain knowledge of the signs that differentiate the vowels and the phonemes, to which they connect, and re-learn phonological coding which makes it possible for them to read new words. Children, who do not master one of these processes, will have difficulties reading Arabic (Taouka & Coltheart, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref27">81</reflink>]).</p> <p>The Arabic vowel system removes phonological ambiguity; however, it can create a difficulty for the reader who is beginning to acquire skills in deciphering words. Reading a vowelized text can be cognitively burdening for the new reader; every small mistake can lead to erroneous deciphering, due to confusion over the vowels above and below the letters (Abu-Rabia, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref28">11</reflink>]). In a non-vowelized text, there is orthographic ambiguity. In order to master Arabic orthography, the individual needs to understand the context of the sentences in order to decipher the ambiguous words that do not have vowels. This can delay the transition to the orthographic stage. Children who are beginning to read classical Arabic do so after continued exposure to spoken Arabic at home. Therefore, many researchers aver that the high levels of difficulty in reading found in the Arab schools are connected to diglossia (Feitelson, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref29">34</reflink>]). Other dimensions also make Arabic reading difficult; these were noted above in the section on Arabic orthography.</p> <p>Reading comprehension is also considered a complex process that is dependent upon numerous skills and abilities, and sub-skills that vary from person to person (Snow & Sweet, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref30">77</reflink>]). These differences usually connect to two levels of processing: (a) the lower level of reading a word, and (b) language abilities and cognitive understandings, which reflect a higher level. This level includes use of working memory, integration of information and use of meta-cognitive strategies. Many studies on the English language have reported that the skills needed for word identification and for reading comprehension connect to one another (Perfetti, [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref31">64</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-9">Arabic and Its Diglossic Nature</hd> <p>According to Hazory & Oweine ([<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref32">39</reflink>]), diglossia is 'bilingualism'—a situation in which two different forms of speaking, one official and the other vernacular, coexist and are used in different contexts. The two forms are differentiated in contexts, usage, and manner of acquisition (Khateb, Nevat, & Prior, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref33">51</reflink>]).</p> <p>Arabic (<emph>al-'Arabiyya</emph>) belongs to the Semitic family of languages and has two main forms: a vernacular ('<emph>amiya</emph>), divided into many geographical dialects (Spoken Arabic Vernacular—SAV), and a literary or standard form (<emph>fuṣḥá</emph>) (Modern Standard Arabic—MSA). Standard Arabic is not only the written form of Arabic; it is also the main language used in news broadcasts, the media, and religious and political rituals. Considered prestigious and esteemed, it is perceived as a high-level language shared by the intelligentsia throughout the Arab world. SAV, in contrast, with its many variations, is the mother tongue of all Arabic speakers irrespective of their education and is usually acquired before MSA is learned in school. The development of education and the spread of electronic media in the Arab world have set in motion a fascinating encounter between the two forms of the language. In recent decades, an educational spoken Arabic that integrates the abstract literary form of the language with various elements of the vernacular has begun to develop.</p> <p>The linguistic relationship between SAV and MSA is not straightforward. The two languages are far apart in many respects: pronunciation, inflection, syntax, vocabulary, and semantics. These differences create a unique linguistic situation known as diglossia. It is a relatively uncommon socio-linguistic state in which the written and the spoken languages are so differentiated that one may treat the former almost as a foreign tongue (Eghbaria, Ibrahim, & Leikin, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref34">28</reflink>]).</p> <p>Arabic-speaking children are born into this double linguistic context (Ferguson, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref35">36</reflink>]). They speak the vernacular of their parents, siblings, and peers at home and in their residential surroundings. In school, they are first exposed to MSA in Arabic-language classes. The different code of the standard language is a perceived almost as a foreign tongue and entails literary proficiencies of reading and writing, grammatical knowledge, and linguistic accuracy. As the sole written code, Modern Standard Arabic is also the language of textbooks in all subjects. Outside the school environment, the two linguistic codes maintain a rather stable coexistence, complementing each other in various areas of social functioning. Thus, SAV is used for unofficial quotidian conversational functions, usually oral only. MSA, in contrast, is invoked for writing and official linguistic functions such as religious sermons, speeches, newscasts, and the like (Saiegh-Haddad, Levin, Hende, & Ziv, [<reflink idref="bib71" id="ref36">71</reflink>]).</p> <p>Eghbaria et al. ([<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref37">28</reflink>]) found that the effect of the linguistic distance between MSA and SAV is almost always studied among schoolchildren and less so among preschoolers. This happens for two reasons: First, the formal and direct exposure to MSA coincides with the initial acquisition of reading and writing at the beginning of the child's studies in school. Until then, children are exposed to MSA mainly through stories or watching television programs, but this exposure is weaker both qualitatively and quantitatively. Second, the linguistic distance between the two forms of Arabic has a particularly strong effect on the acquisition of basic reading proficiency.</p> <p>It is not by chance that children are less successful when they are asked to analyze the pronunciation of literary linguistic structures and compare it with those in vernacular Arabic (Saiegh-Haddad, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref38">66</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref39">67</reflink>]). The findings (albeit few) of semantic and metacognitive research confirm these data in most cases, allowing us to hypothesize that children whose mother tongue is Arabic treat MSA much as bilingual children do after they are exposed to both forms of Arabic (Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref40">43</reflink>]; Ibrahim & Aharon-Peretz, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref41">44</reflink>]). Accordingly, it has been proposed that Arabic diglossia has an adverse effect on the acquisition of basic reading proficiency (Ibrahim, Eviatar, & Aharon-Peretz, [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref42">45</reflink>]) and, in contrast, a positive effect (like bilingualism) on the development of metalinguistic proficiency (Eviatar & Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref43">32</reflink>]).</p> <p>In the past decade, Saiegh-Haddad, Levien, Hende, and Ziv ([<reflink idref="bib70" id="ref44">70</reflink>]) have tried to surmount the SAV-MSA gap by providing early exposure to MSA at home and in preschool and by applying a structured and systematic approach in both of these settings. They propose that structured intervention develops awareness of syllables, characters, and identification of sounds, and broadens vocabulary in early childhood. They also observe that SAV has an adverse effect on the development of reading. Because children speak SAV until preschool age, they find it difficult to construct phonological representations of MSA words in the early school grades (Saiegh-Haddad, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref45">66</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref46">67</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref47">69</reflink>]; Saiegh-Haddad et al., [<reflink idref="bib71" id="ref48">71</reflink>]). Similarly, the cognitive systems of both children and adolescents treat SAV and MSA as separate languages.</p> <p>Asaad and Eviatar ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref49">4</reflink>]) claim that the diglossic nature of Arabic may impede the process of grapheme–phoneme conversion in form as well. One reason for this is that graphemes may represent phonemes that are unknown in the vernacular of young pupils; another is the linguistic distance between the two forms of Arabic. Due to this distance, children cannot rely on their phonological representations of words in the vernacular, even though the written Arabic orthography is shallow or transparent. Accordingly, to acquire Arabic reading skills they must learn two systems—one linguistic and the other orthographic concurrently.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-10">MSA vs. SAV</hd> <p>Two characteristics define the diglossic context. The first is the gulf between the standard language and the way it is spoken. The second is that the two forms are complementary in the social functioning of two separate systems that are implemented by two codes that, while totally distinct, are linguistically linked.</p> <p>Arabic is a typical case of diglossia. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the language universally used for writing and other official purposes, such as speeches and religious rituals. It accommodates a broad spectrum of spoken dialects (Spoken Arabic Vernaculars—SAVs) that are used for daily conversation. Even though all SAVs are related to MSA, they are distinct from each other and maintain a perceptible distance from MSA in phonological, formal-syntactic, lexical, and semantic terms (Saiegh-Haddad, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref50">68</reflink>]).</p> <p>The linguistic distance between MSA and SAV is evident in phonology, manifested in the composition of the phonemic stock and the syllabic structure of the two languages, the written and the vernacular. MSA has twenty-eight consonantal sounds and six vowels—three long and three short. In SAV, contrastingly, there is usually a complex vowel system but few consonants. This means that when they begin to learn to read, learners need to cope with a new system of consonantal sounds with which they are unfamiliar from their experience with the vernacular.</p> <p>Despite its potential impact on the acquisition of basic reading proficiency, this diglossia did not begin to attract attention until recently. Several studies have shown that early exposure to MSA by reading stories led to an improvement in linguistic literacy and reading comprehension (Abu Rabia, 2000; Feitelson, Goldstein, Iraqi & Share, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref51">35</reflink>]).</p> <p>Saiegh-Haddad ([<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref52">66</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref53">67</reflink>]) investigated the effect of the MSA/SAV linguistic distance on the acquisition of basic derivatives associated with reading. She examined the ascending order (from basic capabilities to more complex ones), asked whether linguistic structures that are far from each other in diglossia disrupt the acquisition of basic reading processes in MSA, and related to the effect of the phonological distance of SAV from MSA in attaining phonemic awareness and accuracy in encoding words. Examining preschool and first-grade children who are native speakers of the local Palestinian dialect of SAV in northern Israel, she discovered that the children found the phonemes of MSA more complicated to isolate and encode. It was also found that MSA phonemes are much harder to cope with when they are assimilated into MSA syllabic structures.</p> <p>In another study, Saiegh-Haddad ([<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref54">67</reflink>]) examined the effect of the lexical and phonemic distance of SAV from MSA on phonological analysis among children. Here she discovered that preschool children find words in MSA much harder to analyze than they do SAV words or dummy words, and that MSA phonemes are much harder to encode when they are assimilated into MSA words.</p> <p>These insights reinforce the hypothesis that linguistic distance impedes the attainment of basic reading processes in diglossia, foremost due to two singular characteristics of Arabic: the transparent orthography of the voweled language and the diglossic nature of Arabic. Even though voweled Arabic is considered a 'transparent' orthography that maintains regular and consistent relations with phonological representation, the diglossic nature of the language makes these relations less transparent. The reason lies in the orthography, which encodes phonological structures of MSA that are not included in children's experience with the vernacular. Under these circumstances, reading may be disrupted by unfamiliar phonological structures that do not exist in the SAV that the children know (Saiegh-Haddad, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref55">68</reflink>]).</p> <p>Literacy skills and phonological awareness usually evolve intuitively as a function of the child's exposure to the language. This, however, does not occur in diglossic Arabic. The linguistic distance between the spoken word and the written word is manifested in various linguistic structures including morphology, phonology, and vocabulary. In terms of phonological structure, MSA and SAV are differentiated in their phonemic repertoires. On the one hand, SAV accommodates phonemes that exist in its vocabulary alone and are not represented in MSA orthography (an example is the phoneme ق [q], which appears in several versions, as in the word قلب [qalb] =heart]). On the other hand, some diglossic phonemes exist only in the MSA stock (e.g., the phoneme ث [] in the word ثور [awr] =bull) (Saiegh-Haddad et al., [<reflink idref="bib71" id="ref56">71</reflink>]).</p> <p>Unlike other languages, formal exposure to MSA takes place only at the onset of formal studies in school (Hudson, [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref57">42</reflink>]). For this reason, coupled with insufficient exposure to MSA at home, MSA is considered a second language. When children begin to learn it in first grade, their shortcomings in phonemic repertoire and phonological awareness affect their phonological processing and, in turn, their acquisition of reading proficiency (Abu Rabia, 2000). Saiegh-Haddad ([<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref58">66</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref59">67</reflink>], and [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref60">69</reflink>]) shows clearly that Arab children in preschool and first grade find it immensely difficult to deconstruct MSA structures into phonemes. Furthermore, the phonological distance between the two types of Arabic affects subsequent decoding skills among first- and second-graders, who struggle to decode words that have phonemic and syllabic structures unique to MSA, resulting in a high rate of decoding errors in words composed of phonemes and syllabic structures that occur in SAV (Saiegh-Haddad, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref61">66</reflink>]).</p> <p>The effect of phonological training on reading ability has been investigated in many studies, with reference to several subskills at the levels of different sound units. These works demonstrate the contribution of phonemic training to reading and spelling acquisition among skilled and unskilled readers (Bradley & Bryant, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref62">25</reflink>]; Cunningham, 1990; Lundberg, Frost, & Petersen, [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref63">55</reflink>]; Schneider, Kuspert, Roth, Vise, & Marx, [<reflink idref="bib74" id="ref64">74</reflink>]; Treiman & Baron, [<reflink idref="bib84" id="ref65">84</reflink>]). Due to the errors in the phonological-awareness skills of children at the onset of their school years and the implications of these errors for the reading-acquisition process in the case of diglossic Arabic, it has been recommended that teaching of reading should include explicit, structured, and systematic training in phonological awareness (Makhoul, [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref66">58</reflink>]).</p> <p>MSA is the authentic version of classical Arabic and differs from the spoken dialects of the language in lexical items, phonology, morphology, and syntax. Children rarely use MSA until they begin to attend school; therefore, its acquisition is considered that of a second language (Ayari, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref67">19</reflink>]; Saiegh-Haddad, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref68">68</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref69">69</reflink>]). Accordingly, Arabic has the exceptional property of possessing two forms of one basic language. Children see one of these forms a verbal medium and regard the other form mainly as an educational tool and a rule-bound written medium.</p> <p>Saiegh-Haddad ([<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref70">69</reflink>]) claimed that the difference between SAV and MSA disrupts the construction of the phonological representations of MSA. Given that this may lead to less reliance on such representations to support the acquisition of literary proficiency, alternative processes to identify words should be used. Saiegh-Haddad ([<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref71">68</reflink>]) found that among first-graders, too, phonological awareness is only indirectly associated with reading, in contrast to pupils in higher grades, whose awareness is manifested directly. Focusing on salient orthographic properties may be a more important strategy for study than centering on the grapheme–phoneme relationship (Mahfoudhi, Everatt, & Elbeheri, [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref72">57</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-11">Topographic Characteristics and their Impact on Reading Comprehension among Adults</hd> <p>Ganayim and Ibrahim's study ([<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref73">47</reflink>]) on the influence of topographic factors on reading a text and reading comprehension among adults found that the space between lines does not significantly influence the time a person needs to read or understand the text, or his/her score on reading comprehension. Thus, adding space between lines does not help the reader read faster and understand the text. It does not improve the scores of adult readers on reading comprehension of texts written in Arabic. These findings are similar to results of previous research on English texts, which found that adding space between lines did not make a significant difference in the level of reading comprehension (Kruk & Muter, [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref74">52</reflink>]).</p> <p>Ganayim and Ibrahim's ([<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref75">47</reflink>]) research showed that connecting the letters in Arabic words helps readers follow each line, remember it, and accurately return to the beginning of each new line/sentence. As a result, the space between the lines neither contributes to the horizontal form of the connected letters in Arabic texts, nor influences the reading of the words or the reading speed. Furthermore, it does not affect understanding. The researchers found that distributing the lines on two pages (two columns) on the page has a greater impact on reading achievements, but does not influence speed of reading.</p> <p>Nevertheless, Bailey ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref76">21</reflink>]) asserted that long lines of text, for example, spread over one column, accelerate the speed of reading, while shorter lines of text, spread over a number of columns, decrease the speed. Moreover, it is important to emphasize that the main finding in their study was that arranging the text in a number of columns with short lines decreases understanding, while not influencing the time it takes to read the text.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-12">Unique Difficulties of Arabic for Reading and Reading Comprehension</hd> <p>Another unique characteristic of Arabic orthography connects to the visual complexity of the writing. There are groups of letters that represent different sounds that have an identical basic shape and only differ in terms of the vowels that appear above, below or within in them, for example, بتثن\فق\سش\حخج\دذ\رز\صض\طظ\عغ.. Furthermore, there is also phonological complexity concerning the similarity of the sounds of letters and in the way in which the letters are connected, according to the language's rules of writing. ـد, ـذ, ـر, ـز, ـو- د, ذ, ر, ز, و (Abu Rabia, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref77">12</reflink>]; Taouka & Coltheart, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref78">81</reflink>]).</p> <p>Since this orthographic complexity may make the process of identification difficult, thus slowing down the process (Eviatar & Ibrahim, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref79">32</reflink>]), knowledge of the nature of the letters and the rules of writing is basic to the process of accurate and fast reading. The process demands substantial attention from the reader (Abu-Rabia et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref80">18</reflink>]). Lack of basic skills can be a possible source of difficulty of acquisition of reading.</p> <p>Results from the Arabic orthographic studies testify to the relationship between visual processes of orthography and the process of reading (Meyler & Breznitz, [<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref81">59</reflink>]). In contrast, results from studies of English did not find a relationship between these variables (Ellis & Large, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref82">29</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref83">30</reflink>]). This difference can be explained by the vowels, which accompany the word template of the Semitic orthographies that requires visual processing, due to the complexity that differentiates the way in which the letters and vowels appear in writing (Share & Levin, [<reflink idref="bib75" id="ref84">75</reflink>]).</p> <p>Arabic writing, therefore, may lead to a dependency on processes of visual processing, since beyond the unique vowel system, the specificity of the changing form of the letter might be a central factor that influences the processing of the written words. Moreover, Arabic is a "combinational language;" that is, one word can be parallel to an entire sentence in English, since it is possible to add negative endings, temporal endings and prefixes to the word's base. These create a morphology that is often derivative and compressed. Therefore, the reader must invest a high level of effort in reaching the exact meaning of the word. For this reason, morphological knowledge is extremely important for learning to read Arabic, since knowledge of the connected words (the derivatives) and knowledge of the different forms of the same words (declension) provide clues for the right letter. This complexity of the Arabic language causes a great deal of difficulty for acquiring literacy (Elbeheri & Everatt, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref85">31</reflink>]).</p> <p>Assuming that basic perception and visual processing is a critical stage in the development and coping with the written material in Arabic, Ibrahim et al. ([<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref86">48</reflink>]) examined to what extent the orthographic characteristics of Arabic, especially the forms of letters, influence the process of letter identification. The consistent results showed that native Arabic-speaking children are slower at processing the letters of Arabic orthography, and that this may slow down the process of reading.</p> <p>Eviatar and colleagues' study ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref87">33</reflink>]) also found that Arabic orthography is complex. Their study demonstrated that visual traits of written Arabic letters make it difficult for the right hemisphere to aid in the identification of letters, while this hemisphere participates in the identification of letters in Hebrew and in English. This finding lends support to the hypothesis that reading in Arabic requires different abilities than those required in other languages and, from this aspect, is more difficult (Eviatar, Ibrahim, & Ganayim, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref88">33</reflink>]).</p> <p>In a follow-up study, Abdelhadi, Ibrahim, and Eviatar ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref89">2</reflink>]) explored how orthographical complexity can influence the identification of vowels among students in the third and sixth grades. They employed a vowel identification task and combined it with a stimulus in Arabic and in Hebrew on three lexical levels: real words, pseudo-words and non-letters. Each level included three categories: letters unconnected to one another, connected letters and letters in which the vowels were an integral part of the letter (for example, خ). The study participants were asked to identify the specific vowels of fatHa or patax.</p> <p>Unexpectedly, all of the children responded faster to the strings of stimuli that were composed of the connected letters, than to the other stimuli. The researchers explained the results by noting that these are kinds of words that are the most common in the language, while the words that were constructed from six unconnected letters are uncommon. As a result, it is possible that Arabic words written with connected letters, like in English handwriting, are identified and deciphered as one unit. It is also possible that in this situation it is harder to relate to a single letter because it is usually identified (learned) in its separate form – at the beginning of a word or at the end of a word.</p> <p>Another study, undertaken by Rao, Vaid, Srinivasan, and Chen ([<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref90">65</reflink>]), examined the influence of the depth of the complex and visual orthography in the Urdu and Hindi languages. The researchers measured the speed and accuracy of reading lone words among bilingual adults in Urdu (in which the deep orthography is based on Arabic-Perso letters) and in Hindi (in which there is low orthographic-visual complexity). The scholars reported that while Urdu was the mother tongue of the participants and the language of most of their school years, the responses to Urdu were slower and had more errors than the responses to Hindi. The researchers suggested that this occurred because Urdu is more visually complex than Hindi.</p> <p>The fact that Arabic is a diglossic language, and since standard literary Arabic is not the common language of the child's natural environment, adds to this complexity. The standard literary language is not the mother tongue of any Arabic speaker. Due to this lingual state, most of the linguistic units can be found in one form of the language (standard, literary or spoken), and not in the other. When the students first begin learning literary Arabic in the first grade, they see it as a new language, in terms of writing, reading and speaking.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-13">The Influence of Vowels on Reading Comprehension</hd> <p>There has not been much research on the role of vowels, and there is even less research on the topic of short vowels in Arabic. It is unclear how vowels contribute to reading when words do not become homographic, even after the vowels are deleted. On the one hand, the vowels in these words add signs picked up by the eye and brain when trying to decipher the words, which may slow down the rate of reading. On the other hand, however, it is possible that the vowels make it easier to create the phonological template of the word. As a result, this will aid in the identification of single words of this time, and in storing them in memory until ending the process of understanding the sentence (Shimron and Sivan, [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref91">76</reflink>]).</p> <p>The importance of vowels is clear, when reading words that are homographic, when written without vowels. This is especially true when they appear as single words. When the homographic words are combined in a text, it is usually possible to understand their meaning through contextual clues. Therefore, it is easy to read texts that are non-vowelized (Shimron and Sivan, [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref92">76</reflink>]). As noted above, Arabic has a relatively large number of homographics; as a result, the vowels are very important for understanding many words (Abu-Rabia, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref93">9</reflink>]). Shimron and Sivan's research ([<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref94">76</reflink>]) found that the vowels contribute to reading comprehension among skilled readers; however, it did not contribute to this comprehension among unskilled readers.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-14">The Syntactic Role of iʿrāb in Arabic and Other Languages</hd> <p>The syntactic role of iʿrāb, is important since it notes the syntactic relationships that exist between words in a sentence. This knowledge is supposed to solve the ambiguity in understanding what one has read, especially when reading the Koran. It is possible that non-native Arabic speakers – such as native English speakers – will have to adapt their reading strategy and receive training in al i'arab, which is perceived as unimportant in English (Khaldieh, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref95">50</reflink>]).</p> <p>Research found the lack of a relationship between iʿrāb and understanding the language, which includes reading. Bateson ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref96">22</reflink>]) described iʿrāb as a "creation of art" that has no importance for meaning. It appears, therefore, that knowledge of ali'arab is perceived as a non-integral part of the semantics of words in Arabic during reading.</p> <p>Khaldieh ([<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref97">49</reflink>]) reported that people, who are studying Arabic as a second language, did not relate at all to iʿrāb as a source of linguistic knowledge in reading comprehension. American learners, who were studying Arabic, paid attention to basic elements of the language, such as deciphering, morphology and nouns. These findings point to the fact that when a person is learning Arabic, s/he does not need al iʿrāb since it appears to be a superfluous syntactic trait connected to constructing meaning and processing of words. It is possible that iʿrāb adds a burden to the memory and may slow down the reading process.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-15">Syntactic Awareness, Grammar and Reading Comprehension among Native and Non-Native Reader</hd> <p>Tong et al. ([<reflink idref="bib83" id="ref98">83</reflink>]) undertook a longitudinal study of Chinese fifth graders in Hong Kong. They examined the relationship between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension. They found that their achievement in the syntactic tasks was similar to their level of reading comprehension. In a different study, Taillefer ([<reflink idref="bib80" id="ref99">80</reflink>]) proposed that for people learning a second language, the way to successfully and correctly read is by focusing on words, as opposed to syntax. This is because vocabulary is more helpful for developing the readers' linguistic abilities than knowledge of syntax.</p> <p>Akbari's ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref100">3</reflink>]) study of 120 Persian students who were in their first year of para-medical studies and were taking courses in English as a second language, found that knowledge of grammar is a better predictor of understanding and, therefore, could be used as an indicator for success in reading. The explicit knowledge facilitates students' understanding of the connection between sentences. Therefore, if language teachers aspire to help their students read better and understand faster, it is recommended to increase their grammar knowledge through varied means, such as focusing on explicit teaching.</p> <p>In the present study, we had a different approach to learning grammar. We used grammar as a tool for developing reading comprehension. This tool can make the skill easier.</p> <p>As soon as the learners master Arabic syntax, it makes it possible for the learners to gain a detailed understanding of the text, to deepen their understanding and to increase their reading speed (Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref101">3</reflink>]). They do not see learning grammar as repetition of a group of patterns in order to solve exercises. In actuality, they see grammar as helping them understand their texts as they read. Grammar is important, if not more important than vocabulary.</p> <p>In his study (Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref102">3</reflink>]), he believed that syntax is too important to ignore and that without knowledge about syntax, the learners will have a hard time developing their language and it will be limited. In order to achieve better correspondence between the syntax and reading comprehension, we should not think about syntax as a separate group of meaningless, static structures. Moreover, it is not worthwhile to think about syntax only as a system of rules concerning linguistic forms (Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref103">3</reflink>]).</p> <p>Since the end of the 1970s, researchers became interested in exploring reading from the aspect of syntactic awareness and reading comprehension. Herriman ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref104">40</reflink>]) defined syntactic awareness as having three main components: awareness of the sentence as a basic unit in the written language; awareness of the grammatical structure and the rules of exception in the sentence and word structure; and judgment concerning the relationship of the syntactic structure to the semantic goals of the sentence.</p> <p>Studies on the relationship between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension have shown that low syntactic awareness predicts low achievements in reading comprehension, not only in the present, but also in the future. When reading flows, the correlations between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension become stronger. Therefore, research that focuses on older populations found high correlations between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension (Guo, Roehrig, & Williams, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref105">38</reflink>]).</p> <p>Given that the relationship between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension is unclear, perhaps it can be explained by an indirect relationship/association that is moderated by vocabulary. A direct correlation between vocabulary and syntactic awareness contributes to the ability to learn words through their context – something that significantly increases the vocabulary and even influences reading comprehension (Guo et al., [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref106">38</reflink>]). This will be discussed below.</p> <p>Research has shown that syntax knowledge connects to reading difficulties. It is an important factor in sentence comprehension, since it determines the relationships that affect the meaning of the sentence, such as word order and their grammatical function. Studies that examined elementary school readers, who have difficulty reading, found that they possess lower levels of syntactic knowledge than readers who read correctly. However, the causal connection is unclear. Some researchers assert that, due to late development of language skills among dyslexic readers, a difficulty in syntactic processing occurs. Others argue that the absence of syntactic knowledge is influenced either by working memory difficulties or by phonological awareness.</p> <p>In sum, it appears as if meta-linguistic knowledge, which includes phonological awareness and morphological awareness, is an important and central factor. This influences the individual's ability to read in fluently and correctly. The academic literature presents evidence of significant correlations, and even causal relationships between them. It appears as if the meta-linguistic knowledge (phonological awareness and morphological awareness), as well as linguistic knowledge of spoken language, influences people's abilities to read and has a direct relationship to the abilities (Schiff & Wa'adi-Yafe, [<reflink idref="bib73" id="ref107">73</reflink>]). Syntactic knowledge is the most important and connects to reading difficulties. However, the causal relationship between reading difficulties and syntax is not yet clear (Abu-Rabia & Siegel, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref108">6</reflink>]).</p> <p>Reading comprehension is an interactive process between the reader and the text. The topic of iʿrāb is a field of study that connects to the interactive conceptualization of reading. Studies show that explicit teaching of iʿrāb can improve reading comprehension of narrative texts. The reader relates to ideas in the text as previous experiences that construct meaning. Part of this process obligates the reader to understand how the author organized his/her ideas, that is, the structure of the text (Abbott, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref109">1</reflink>]; Mohamed, Elber, & Landerl, [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref110">60</reflink>]; Taibah & Haynes, [<reflink idref="bib79" id="ref111">79</reflink>]; Taouka & Coltheart, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref112">81</reflink>]).</p> <p>Studies have shown that by teaching students different strategies for focusing on the different structure of texts (syntax), this improves their reading comprehension.</p> <p>The explicit teaching of iʿrāb when reading texts, helps students learn to recognize the components of narrative text and to use these elements to improve reading comprehension. Teachers can use the strategy of dividing the text into meaningful sections and developing questions of understanding for the students during guided reading and quiet discussion. These questions help students focus on the relevant elements of the text and analyze the iʿrāb process. Research has shown that presenting such questions leads to better comprehension. Children are given homework in which they are asked to read the sections that create an episode. The teachers provide them with guiding questions, which address the iʿrāb components of the text. In the classroom, the children read sections of the chapter quietly, in order to draw their attention to the iʿrāb in the text (Taibah & Haynes, [<reflink idref="bib79" id="ref113">79</reflink>]; Taouka & Coltheart, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref114">81</reflink>]).</p> <p>Khaldieh ([<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref115">50</reflink>]) argues that native Arabic speakers do not pay attention to iʿrāb when they read; only language experts have this skill. There is no consensus regarding the contribution of the syntactic function (الاعراب) and its influence on reading comprehension, in spite of the fact that most studies on the topic found that iʿrāb does not influence reading comprehension. This is also what Khaldieh ([<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref116">50</reflink>]) found, when he focused on Arabic learners. However, he asserted that further investigation of the topic is needed, since few empirical studies have addressed the issue. Moreover, it appears as if reading comprehension is mainly influenced by the lexical knowledge of the students, independent of their knowledge of iʿrāb. Therefore, the present study examines the issue.</p> <p>This study posed the research question: What is the contribution of syntactical vowels to reading comprehension in Arabic orthography among Arab children? The hypotheses were: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref117">1</reflink>) Students with high-level knowledge of syntactic vowels will demonstrate higher-level reading comprehension, syntactical knowledge and morphological knowledge. (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref118">2</reflink>) Students with a high-level of ability in syntactic vowels will demonstrate richer syntactic knowledge in comparison to students with weaker abilities.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-16">Methodology</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0152850920-17">Participants</hd> <p>The sample included 90; 40 males and 50 females, Muslim-Arab students from the seventh grade (12 years old), whose mother tongue was Arabic, attending a public middle school in the northern district of Israel. All students were native born, and came from a middle to high socio-economic background. There were four classes in the seventh grade and each class had approximately 30 students. Three of the four classes were randomly selected.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-18">Materials</hd> <p>There were three tasks:</p> <p>(a) A test, comprised of 10 questions tapping reading comprehension, was given to the three classes. After reading the texts, the students were asked to choose the correct answer from the multiple-choice questions (each question had four possibilities). The topic of the texts was about sibling jealousy. The texts were chosen from the students' curriculum, though they had not yet studied the topic in the classroom. The questions in both texts were ranked according to increased difficulty. All texts were one page length each and differed in a few words only. A school committee of ten Arabic teachers judged the texts and the multiple comprehension questions. They were judged for difficulty, length and questions level. All teachers were with university degrees in Arabic linguistics and at least with 10 years of experience. In addition, the texts and the questions were judged and approved by the ministry of education research and scientific department.</p> <p>Scoring was from zero to ten: correct answer 1 point and wrong answer is zero.</p> <p>(b) The second instrument was a task of general knowledge concerning syntax, and included two exercises:a. Declension of verbs, according to a sentence with ten certain verbs at the end of the word.</p> <p>(c) A task of syntax analysis (اعراب) of certain ten words in a sentence, with appropriate short vowels at the end of the words.</p> <p>Scoring was from zero to ten: correct answer 1 point and wrong answer is zero.</p> <p>(d) A text in reading comprehension. Ten certain words in a text were highlighted and the children were asked to explain these words and to define their syntactic function (تفسير معنى الكلمات وإعرابها). The text was sampled from grade seven Arabic curriculum. After consultation with the Arabic teachers committee in the school, some of the words were changed because students needed to define concerning their syntactic function, based on what they had learned about syntax in their Arabic schooling.</p> <p>Scoring was from zero to ten: correct answer 1 point and wrong answer is zero.</p> <p>The students' tasks were checked and scored by two Arabic teachers with M.A degrees in Arabic linguistics and under the supervision of the author of this study. The teachers who worked on checking and scoring the students' tasks had no connection with the schools of the present study. All the materials of this study were judged by the Arabic committee and were approved by the ministry of Education.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-19">Procedure</hd> <p>The instruments were administered to three classrooms during the same period. One group received a text and questions with full short vowels, the second group received a text and questions without short vowels. A week later, the second instrument was administered. The last instrument was administered one week after that.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-20">Results</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0152850920-21">Descriptive Statistics</hd> <p>The results point to different means in the students' achievements on two tasks (see Table 1). There were differences in achievement on the two types of tasks, in all the areas of language that were examined. The mean of the students who were given the task with vowels on the topic of الوظيفة النحويّة was 65.3 (SD = 18.14), while the mean of the students who were not given vowels was 59.8 (SD = 17.6). Furthermore, the means of the students who performed the task in reading comprehension on the text with vowels and the morphological function was higher (M = 73.2, 68.2; SD − 19.9, 21.7, respectively) than the means of the students who performed the tasks without vowels.</p> <p>Table 1. Means and standard deviations of the students on the tasks (N = 90).</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td>The task</td><td>With/Without Vowels</td><td>Means</td><td>SD</td></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td>Syntactic functions</td><td>With vowels</td><td char=".">65.3</td><td char=".">18.1</td></tr><tr><td>Without vowels</td><td char=".">59.8</td><td char=".">17.6</td></tr><tr><td>Reading comprehension</td><td>With vowels</td><td char=".">73.2</td><td char=".">19.9</td></tr><tr><td>Without vowels</td><td char=".">66.2</td><td char=".">21.2</td></tr><tr><td>Morphological function</td><td>With vowels</td><td char=".">68.2</td><td char=".">21.7</td></tr><tr><td>Without vowels</td><td char=".">61.5</td><td char=".">19.4</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Results of the students' achievements in the task on the relational sign/iʿrāb and the sign of meaning are presented in Table 2. The mean of the students on iʿrāb was higher than that on the sign of meaning.</p> <p>Table 2. Means of student achievements in the relationship sign/Ala'arab and the sign of meaning.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td>Area</td><td>Mean</td><td>SD</td></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td>Relationship sign/ala'arab</td><td>69.8</td><td char=".">24.8</td></tr><tr><td>Sign of meaning</td><td>65.9</td><td char=".">21.7</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0152850920-22">Inferential Statistics</hd> <p>In order to examine the first research hypothesis, "Students who have higher achievements in syntactic vowels will demonstrate higher achievements in reading comprehension," a t-test for independent samples was conducted. The results appear in Table 3. As can be seen, there was a significant difference between the means of reading comprehension (t <subs>(<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref119">90</reflink>)</subs> = 2.27, p < 0.05). The mean of the scores on reading comprehension, among the students who had the task with full vowels, was higher than the mean of the students who had texts without vowels (M = 73.2, S.D = 19.9 versus M = 66.2, S.D = 21.3). There was also a significant difference in means of the students in the two groups on the task concerning syntactic function (t <subs>(<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref120">90</reflink>)</subs> = 2.08, p < 0.05). The means of the scores on the syntactic function among the students who had a text with vowels was higher than the means of the group that did not have vowels (M = 65.3, SD = 18.4 versus M = 59.8, SD = 17.6). In addition, there was a significant different in the means of the students on the morphological function task between the two groups (t <subs>(<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref121">90</reflink>)</subs> = 2.2, p < 0.05). The mean of the scores of the students on the morphological function task, who had texts with vowels, was higher than the group that had a text without vowels (M = 68.2, SD − 21.7 versus (M = 61.5, SD = 19.4).</p> <p>Table 3. T-test results – differences between performances on both tasks.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td><bold>Task</bold></td><td /><td><bold>With vowels</bold></td><td><bold>Without</bold></td><td><bold>vowels t(90) P</bold></td></tr><tr><td /><td /><td><bold>Mean</bold></td><td><bold>SD</bold></td><td><bold>Mean</bold></td><td><bold>SD</bold></td><td /></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td>Reading comprehension</td><td>73.2</td><td>19.9</td><td>66.2</td><td>21.3</td><td char=".">2.27*</td><td char=".">0.024</td></tr><tr><td>Syntactic function</td><td>65.3</td><td>18.14</td><td>59.8</td><td>17.6</td><td char=".">2.08*</td><td char=".">0.039</td></tr><tr><td>Morphological function</td><td>68.2</td><td>21.7</td><td>61.5</td><td>19.4</td><td char=".">2.2*</td><td char=".">0.03</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Based on these findings, the hypothesis was confirmed: the appearance of vowels positively affects reading comprehension, and the knowledge of syntactic and morphological functions among students.</p> <p>There was a significant, high positive correlation between the variables (r <subs>(<reflink idref="bib96" id="ref122">96</reflink>) =</subs> 0.7, p < 0.001). Therefore, the higher the level of knowledge about the relationship sign/iʿrāb, the higher the level of knowledge about the meaning sign. A test of linear regression was then undertaken in order to understand the basis of the finding (see Table 4). The results were significant (F <subs>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref123">1</reflink>,<reflink idref="bib91" id="ref124">91</reflink>)</subs> = 88.7, p < 0.001): there was a multiple correlation of 0.7 and the percentage of explained variance was 49%. That is, the relationship sign/iʿrāb can explain 49% of the variance between students concerning their knowledge of the meaning sign. Moreover, the standardized regression coefficients (β) provides evidence that the contribution of the relationship sign/iʿrāb to the meaning sign reached statistical significance.</p> <p>Table 4. Regression means for the prediction of the sign of meaning via the relationship sign/Ala'arab (N = 96).</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td><list list-type="Bullet"><list-item><p>Predictor variable</p></list-item></list></td><td>R<sup>2</sup><sub>adg</sub></td><td>R<sup>2</sup></td><td>R</td><td>t</td><td>β</td><td>b</td></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td><list list-type="Bullet"><list-item><p>Sign of relationship/ala'arab</p></list-item></list></td><td>.48</td><td>.49</td><td>.697</td><td>2.93</td><td char=".">.697</td><td char=".">17.2</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0152850920-23">Discussion</hd> <p>This study examined the relationship between vowelization in the Arabic language and reading comprehension, syntactic and morphological functions, as well as the relationship between the relationship sign and the meaning sign among students in the Arabic educational system in Israel. The results demonstrated significant differences between the means of achievements on the tasks: children, who had the texts with vowels, did better than the children who did not. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between the relationship sign/iʿrāb and the sign of meaning among the students.</p> <p>The first hypothesis was fully confirmed: The children who read the text with the vowels had significantly higher means than students who did not have vowels. These findings support previous research that explored the relationship between vowelization and reading comprehension, and syntactic and morphological functions.</p> <p>The differences in the students' means on syntactic knowledge can be explained by the fact that the children that read texts with short vowels could identify the signs that provided clues concerning the syntactic function of the word or name. Therefore, for example, when the name ended with the vowel 'dema' (ضمّة), as in "أكَلَ الوَلَدُ الخُبْزَ", the child is the subject and the bread is the object. As a result, the addition of the affix changes the meaning of the base word and, at times, the syntactic category as well. Furthermore, the forms of the declension are affixes for the word that supply information, such as time, gender, number and pronoun. In this way, the meaning of the word is retained, but add information about the same word, from different angles.</p> <p>When we look at the significant differences between the levels of phonological knowledge, many studies have shown that the vowels do indeed facilitate the construction of phonological knowledge among the students.</p> <p>The second hypothesis was also fully confirmed. It was found that the higher the level of the students' knowledge concerning the relationship sign/al i'arab, their knowledge of the sign of the word increases. Many studies support these findings. For example, Doron's ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref125">27</reflink>]) study found that the relationship sign or understanding conjugation systematically contributes to understanding the verb. Moreover, Ben Asher (1972) asserted that conjugation has a central component that is important for understanding the verb.</p> <p>In spite of this, confirmation of the second hypothesis contradicts Khaldieh's ([<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref126">50</reflink>]) findings. His study found that iʿrāb has neither a significant nor a meaningful function, which affects reading comprehension among Arabic learners. The researcher asserts that the absence of a connection is not clear-cut, since the area has rarely been empirically studied. Moreover, it appears as if reading comprehension is affected mainly by students' lexical knowledge, and is not dependent upon their knowledge of iʿrāb.</p> <p>It is worthwhile noting that the difference between the present study's results and Khaldieh's findings is derived mainly from the significant differences between the research populations from which the samples were drawn. While the participants in this study were native Arabic speakers, in Khaldieh's study, they were not. This difference can clarify the affinity between ability to understand iʿrāb and reading comprehension, as was found in the present study, but not in the study on non-native speakers. That is, non-native speakers acquire reading skills in Arabic through different and varied teaching techniques, which are not necessarily similar to the techniques used by Arabic language teachers for native speakers.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-24">Conclusions</hd> <p>Looking at the study's findings and the discussion about the results leads to a number of conclusions. The first is that it is possible to improve reading comprehension, and morphological and syntactic knowledge by helping students become accustomed to reading texts with vowels. This is because the vowels contribute to focusing on the words and understanding them quickly. Secondly, the meaning of the word in the text can be identified when the child knows grammar. The greater his/her knowledge of grammar, the more s/he will be able to understand the meaning of the words in the text. However, alongside these findings, many studies reached contradictory conclusions to those found in the present research. These researchers assert that vowels in text actually make reading more difficult for the student. According to these studies, the students expend more visual and cognitive effort when they deal with texts with vowels and this may tire them out and harm their ability to understand what they have read, as well as other abilities. Furthermore, there is some disagreement among researchers about the contribution of grammatical knowledge (الاعراب) to understanding the meaning of the words in the text. Some researchers have reported on the association between grammar and understanding the meaning of a word, while other researchers did not find such associations between these two variables.</p> <hd id="AN0152850920-25">Declaration of Interest Statement</hd> <p>The author declares that there is no conflict of interests.</p> <ref id="AN0152850920-26"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref109" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Abbott, M. L. (2006). 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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Syntax Functions and Reading Comprehension in Arabic Orthography
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Abu-Rabia%2C+Salim%22">Abu-Rabia, Salim</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1035-5641">0000-0003-1035-5641</externalLink>)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Reading+Psychology%22"><i>Reading Psychology</i></searchLink>. 2021 42(7):700-729.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 30
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2021
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+7%22">Grade 7</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Junior+High+Schools%22">Junior High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Middle+Schools%22">Middle Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Semitic+Languages%22">Semitic Languages</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Written+Language%22">Written Language</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vowels%22">Vowels</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Syntax%22">Syntax</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonemes%22">Phonemes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reading+Comprehension%22">Reading Comprehension</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonological+Awareness%22">Phonological Awareness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Alphabets%22">Alphabets</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Bilingualism%22">Bilingualism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grammar%22">Grammar</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+7%22">Grade 7</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Middle+School+Students%22">Middle School Students</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1080/02702711.2021.1912866
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 0270-2711
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The Arabic writing system allows for two representations: vowelized or non-vowelized. The vowelized writing, which characterizes the writing in the Koran, classical literature and children's books, includes the long and short vowels and all the vowels, including the vowels that express syntax functions (the final vowels). In non-vowelized writing, only the consonants and long vowels appear. The goal of the present study was to examine syntax functions and the extent to which they influenced the reading comprehension of Arab students. Ninety students participated in the study: One group received a text and questions with full vowels, while the other group received a text and questions without short vowels. One week later, the participants were given a second task. A week later, the participants were given a text and tested for reading comprehension. Certain words in the text were highlighted, and the students were asked to explain these words and to define their syntactic function. The results showed that the students given the vowelized texts achieved significantly higher grades than those who worked on the non-vowelized texts. Moreover, it was found that the greater the student's knowledge of grammar and syntax, the better her/his understanding of the meaning of the words.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2021
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1314492
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1314492
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/02702711.2021.1912866
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 30
        StartPage: 700
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Semitic Languages
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Written Language
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Vowels
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Syntax
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Phonemes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Reading Comprehension
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Phonological Awareness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Alphabets
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Bilingualism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grammar
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grade 7
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Middle School Students
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Syntax Functions and Reading Comprehension in Arabic Orthography
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Abu-Rabia, Salim
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2021
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 0270-2711
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 42
            – Type: issue
              Value: 7
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Reading Psychology
              Type: main
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