tandfonline.com – The orthographic depth and promotion of students with learning disabilities

Abstract

This research examines the connection between orthographical depth of a language and phonological and morphological processing in Arabic-speaking children with learning disabilities. Participants included 40 pupils in third and fourth grade with learning disabilities in reading and reading comprehension studying in a mixed class in regular Arab elementary schools. The effect of the orthographical depth of the language was tested in two research groups: 20 pupils learning to read in Arabic with full vowelization and 20, with partial vowelization. Phonological and morphological processing were -each tested with two tasks: Phonological processing was tested by phonetic parsing of words and in the second task, phonetic parsing of nonsense words. Morphological processing was tested with morphological production and judgment of morphologic relations. The first hypothesis of this research claims that the level of phonological processing of Arabic-speaking children learning to read Arabic with full vowelization will be higher than in the group with partial vowelization. The second hypothesis claims that among the pupils who learn to read Arabic with full vowelization, the morphological processing will be higher than with pupils learning to read with partial vowelization. The third hypothesis claims that orthographical depth is a more significant predictor of phonological and morphological processing than variables related to the personal background of pupils with learning disabilities. These findings can enhance our understanding of the processes that are the bases of phonological and morphological processing, and will enable us to develop ways to improve the reading comprehension of pupils with learning disabilities in mixed classes in regular elementary schools. Furthermore, these findings will contribute to development of teacher training with a focus on effective ways of advancing phonological and morphological processing and reading comprehension in students with learning disabilities.