Cover not available
Part of
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

| Adelphi University
| Adelphi University
| Adelphi University
| Teachers CollegeColumbia University

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
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 6 January 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.12.10kha
References
Albirini, A.
(2018a) Arabic speakers in the United States. In E. Benmamoun & R. Bassiouney. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics (pp. 263–281). Blackwell Routledge.Google Scholar
(2018b) Arabic as a first language. In E. Benmamoun & R. Bassiouney. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics (pp. 227–248). Blackwell Routledge.Google Scholar
Albirini, A., Benmamoun, E., & Saadah, E.
(2011) Grammatical Features of Egyptian and Palestinian Arabic heritage speakers’ oral production. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(2), 273–303. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Albirini, A., Benmamoun, E., & Chakrani, B.
(2013) Gender and number agreement in the oral production of Arabic Heritage speakers. Bilingualism, 16, 1, 1–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Albirini, A., & Benmamoun, E.
(2014) Concatenative and nonconcatenative plural formation in L1, L2, and heritage speakers of Arabic. Modern Language Journal, 98, 854–871. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benmamoun, A., & Albirini, A.
(2018) Is learning a standard variety similar to learning a new language? Evidence from Heritage speakers of Arabic. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40, 31–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benmamoun, E., Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M.
(2010) Prolegomena to heritage linguistics. [White paper]. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Harvard University. Retrieved from [URL]
Benmamoun, E., Albirini, A., Montrul, S., & Saadah, E.
(2014) Arabic plurals and root and pattern morphology in Palestinian and Egyptian heritage speakers. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 4(1), 89–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benmamoun, E., Montrul, S., & Polinsky, M.
(2013) Heritage languages and their speakers: Opportunities and challenges for linguistics. Theoretical Linguistics, 39(3–4), 129–181. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carreira, M., & Kagan, O.
(2011) The results of the National Heritage Language Survey: Implications for teaching, curriculum design, and professional development. Foreign Language Annals, 44(1), 40–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R., & Barkhuizen, G.
(2005) Analysing learner language. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Froud, K., & Khamis-Dakwar, R.
in press). The study of Arabic language acquisition: A critical review. To appear in K. Ryding & D. Wilmsen Eds. The Cambridge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics Cambridge University Press DOI logo
Gironzetti, E., & Belpoliti, F.
(2018) Research and pedagogy in the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL): A qualitative meta-synthesis. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 5, 16–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hamers, J. F., & Blanc, M. H. A.
(2000) Bilinguality and bilingualism (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hollingshead, A. A.
(1975) Four-factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, New Haven, CT.Google Scholar
James, C.
(1998) Errors in language learning and use: Exploring error analysis. Longman.Google Scholar
Khamis-Dakwar, R., Ahmar, M., & Froud, K.
(2019) Maintenance of Arabic dual formation in typically developing heritage speakers of Arabic. In Y. Haddad & A. Khalfaoui. (Eds.) Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXI: Papers from the annual symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Norman, Oklahoma (pp. 207–233). John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maldonado-Torres, N.
(2006) Césaire’s gift and the decolonial turn. Radical Philosophy Review, 9(2), 111–138. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S.
(2012) Is the heritage language like a second language? EUROSLA Yearbook, 12, 1–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics
(2019) Digest of education statistics 2018. Table 204.27. English language learner (ELL) students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools, by home language, grade, and selected student characteristics: Selected years, 2008–2009 through fall 2016. Retrieved from [URL]
Ortman, J. M., & Shin, H. B.
(2011) Language Projections: 2010 to 2020. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Sociological Association; Las Vegas. Retrieved from [URL]
Polinsky, M.
(2016) Bilingual children and adult heritage speakers: The range of comparison. International Journal of Bilingualism, 22(5), 547x–563. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Polinsky, M., & Scontras, G.
(2020) Understanding heritage languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 23(1), 4–20. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Putnam, M. T., & Sanchez, L.
(2013) What’s so incomplete about incomplete acquisition? A prolegomenon to modeling heritage language grammars. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 3(4), 478–508. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ravid, D., & Farah, R.
(1999) Learning about noun plurals in early Palestinian Arabic. First Language, 19(56), 187–206. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rothman, J., Tsimpli, I. M., & y Cabo, D. P.
(2016) Formal linguistic approaches to heritage language acquisition. In D. P. y Cabo. (Ed.), Advances in Spanish as a heritage language (pp.13–26). John Benjamins Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scontras, G., Fuchs, Z., & Polinsky, M.
(2015) Heritage language and linguistic theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Visonà, M. W., & Plonsky, L.
(2020) Arabic as a heritage language: A scoping review. International Journal of Bilingualism, 24(4), 599–615. DOI logoGoogle Scholar