In playgrounds and living rooms across Egypt, children narrate their worlds in colloquial Egyptian dialect, negotiate snacks, play games together, and ask endless questions. When they enter the classroom, they switch, reading and writing in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the official language of textbooks, news bulletins and newspapers, rather than studying in colloquial Egyptian.
The coexistence of two types of languages, known as diglossia, creates a structural gap between the spoken and written forms of the language, which in turn affects How young learners acquire basic reading and language skills. The Arabic language is not exempt from the effects of bilingualism, as the gap between classical Arabic and spoken languages also plays a role in the acquisition of reading and writing. According to For a 2024 study published in the journal Frontiers in Education.
While many students learn MSA, also known as Classical In the Arabic language, from a young age, when they begin to read and write, Often about four yearsThose who are exposed to MSA from an early age may find it difficult to learn. However, depending on how the language gap is addressed pedagogically, their knowledge of the Egyptian dialect It can act as a bridge.
According to According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), children learn best when their first language is valued and used in the classroom, which promotes literacy and inclusion, and links school learning to what they already know.
At the same time, understanding the effects of the diglossia gap can help teachers better Supporting reading and writing education Without forgetting the role of children’s first spoken language.
Bilingual gap affects Learners’ phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and process sounds within words. It also hampers decoding, the ability to match written letters with spoken sounds, as well as lexical access, the ability to quickly retrieve and understand the meaning of words in Standard Arabic.
Morphological awareness, the understanding of word patterns, is also affected by the diglossia gap, making it difficult for students to connect what they say to what they read and write without targeted instructional support, a 2023 study published in the International Journal of Educational Research found. reveals.
One way teachers can Recognizing bilingualism Taking into account the linguistic realities of students’ daily speech, including introducing simplified or transitional forms of classical Arabic in the first grades. Exposing children to MSA in engaging ways, not just through formal grammar lessons, can also help Help them You become more familiar and comfortable with it.
By connecting colloquial Egyptian and classical Arabic through context-based literacy activities, children can excel in reading acquisition, According to To search in the British Journal of Education.
While Arabic bilingualism is unique in its form and scope, the basic principle that children learn best when new literacy skills build on previous language proficiency is widely held. Supported In language teaching literature.
Standard Arabic and Colloquial Egyptian are not competing language systems, but equally important variations of the rich Arabic language. When teachers acknowledge Arabic bilingualism, students can use the language they already know to build confidence in reading and writing Classical.