In:Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIV: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Tucson, Arizona, 2020
Edited by Mahmoud Azaz
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 12] 2023
► pp. 231–254
Arabic and English plural formation in typically developing heritage speakers of Arabic
A longitudinal study
Published online: 6 January 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.12.10kha
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.12.10kha
Abstract
The study of language development in Arabic heritage speaking children is scarce, and mostly constrained by cross-sectional designs (see Visonà & Plonsky, 2020), making it difficult to determine the course of language development or maintenance through the different stages of language exposure in Heritage Language Learners (HLLs). We present a longitudinal investigation of plural production in two Palestinian siblings sharing a parental background and home language exposure, starting one month after they immigrated to the United States. Real and Pseudoword Arabic plural, dual, and English plural productions were examined using child-friendly, interactive sentence completion task Effects of child’s age, immigration age, levels of language exposure and use, and assessed languages and structures were found, emphasizing the value of process versus outcome-oriented approaches to language development in HLLs.
Keywords: Arabic language acquisition, heritage language learners, plural, dual, speakers
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Arabic plural morphology
- 3.The present study
- 3.1Methods
- 3.2Participants
- 3.3Procedure
- 3.4Materials
- 3.5Data analysis
- 4.Results
- 4.1English plural productions
- 4.2Arabic plural productions
- 4.2.1Early versus late acquired forms
- 4.2.2Dual form: Loss versus maintenance
- 4.2.3Reemergence of forms post homeland visit
- 4.3Picture naming performance
- 4.4Qualitative analyses
- 4.4.1English qualitative data
- 5.Discussion
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Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Khamis, Reem
2025. Coloniality and patterns of scholarly linguistic investigations in Arabic language acquisition studies. In Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXV [Studies in Arabic Linguistics, 14], ► pp. 202 ff.
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