Towards Reading Acquisition: Bridging the Gap in Literacy Knowledge among At-Risk Arab Children

The study of Arabic language has mainly concentrated on the implications of its diglossic nature and orthographic features on reading acquisition while neglecting the conjoint effect of literacy related environmental factors. The current study attempts to investigate the remedial effects of early literacy promoting program among at-risk for reading difficulties Arab from kindergarten through 2nd grade and asses its impact on reading acquisition in a diglossic context. 25 children from low socio-economic background have participated in this study and where compared to a group of 181 heterogenic students. The students were assessed for their discourse and listening comprehension skills, phonology, morphology, syntax and vocabulary in addition to their reading skills upon commencing 2nd grade. Despite the observed lag in literacy skills among the at-risk kindergarten children, the obtained results indicate that they were able to close the gaps in most of the literacy assessed domains but were significantly lower in reading achievements when compared to their peers.