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Urdu As a First Language: the Impact of Script on Reading in the L1 and English As a Second Language

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Urdu As a First Language: the Impact of Script on Reading in the L1 and English As a Second Language Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2014 Urdu as a First Language: The Impact of Script on Reading in the L1 and English as a Second Language Amna Mirza [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Recommended Citation Mirza, Amna, "Urdu as a First Language: The Impact of Script on Reading in the L1 and English as a Second Language" (2014). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1660. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1660 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running head: THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING Urdu as a First Language: The Impact of Script on Reading in the L1 and English as a Second Language By Amna Mirza, B.A. THESIS Submitted to the Department of Psychology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Masters of Arts in Psychology Wilfrid Laurier University July 2014 © Amna Mirza, 2014 THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING ii Abstract Urdu is a classic example of digraphia, a linguistic situation in which different scripts are used to write the same language (Ahmad, 2011). The analysis of orthographic practices of reading and writing Urdu in Arabic script versus in Urdu script reveals that Muslims learning to read the Quran in Western countries are not explicitly aware of the features specific to Urdu script. The present study examined awareness of script similarity; suggesting that bilinguals who read both scripts, Urdu and Arabic would have an advantage in acquiring L1 through the same scripts. Fifty Canadian bilingual children (6-10 years) were tested for language ability, cognitive and phonological processing skills in two languages: Urdu their L1 and English their L2. In contrast to English, Urdu was written in an adapted version of Arabic script. Groups were created based on whether they were above or below the standardized mean on the Urdu and/or Arabic measures. A binary logistic regression showed that there was a significant difference between readers who are good and/or poor at one or both languages, in terms of L2 decoding. The correlations between L1 and L2 phonological awareness showed that phonological awareness is not a language specific mechanism (Comeau et al., 1999). These skills predict word recognition cross-linguistically as a result of the linguistic interdependence between L1 and L2. Recent research on L2 literacy development suggests the need to examine transfer of literacy skills on a case-by-case basis for each language, based on similarities and differences between L1 and L2 scripts, particularly if the readers show low levels of literacy in one script, in this case their L1 (Genesse et al., 2006). Keywords: bilinguals, second language acquisition, script similarities and reading comprehension, word reading. THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING iii Acknowledgments This research project would not have been possible without the support of many people. For the accomplishment of this study, I was dependent on the advice, support and suggestions of my teachers, friends and family. Much of this work would have progressed slowly and less adequately without their help. I owe thanks to many people for their support and consideration, particularly the following: I render my gratitude, with a deep sense of acknowledgment to my supervisor Dr. Alexandra Gottardo, for the guidance and help during my research work. She did not only supervise my research but also guided me with her valuable suggestions and positive feedback. In fact, it was, Dr. Gottardo who invited my attention to the problem statements, which I eventually selected for my research. I am greatly indebted to my Thesis committee members Dr. Eileen Wood and Dr. Joanne Lee for their valuable suggestions and feedback in connection with the completion of my work. I would like to thank the staff of Al-Huda Islamic School for their help especially for arranging Urdu speaker participants for the collection of my data. I owe a very special thank you to my wonderful friends and colleagues Melissa Dol and Phil Cave. I am greatly thankful to Fatemeh, for her huge help in data entry. I would also like to thank Eric, Lucia and Katherine for their help and suggestions. I also like to thank my lovely sisters Madeeha and Khadeeja in Pakistan. They helped me in translating the Urdu measures, and a huge thanks to my youngest sister Ayesha Ikram for typing the Urdu measures in Urdu and Arabic script. Without her help in typing, this research would not look beautiful and professional. THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING iv I would like to thank my family, my Mom and Dad, for their unflagging love and support throughout my education. This research would have been impossible to achieve without their support. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to my husband, Shakeel, for his unconditional love and support, which has given me the confidence to succeed. Shakeel, I am truly grateful to have you in my life as my life partner. You were always there when I needed moral support and encouragement! I am thankful for my loving kids Meher and Ahmed, for being so helpful and understanding, when I was extremely busy in writing this Thesis. THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING v This research is especially dedicated to my beloved Grand Dad, My Nana Jaan (Late Abdul Majeed) THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS---------------------------------------------------------------------------iii TABLE OF CONTENTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------vi LIST OF TABLES--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------xi INTRODUCTION--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 LITERATURE REVIEW------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 Oral language and literacy development-------------------------------------------15 First language acquisition------------------------------------------------------------15 Models of language acquisition-----------------------------------------------------16 Literacy---------------------------------------------------------------------------------17 Second language acquisition---------------------------------------------------------17 Bilingualism----------------------------------------------------------------------------17 Simultaneous bilinguals--------------------------------------------------------------18 Successive bilinguals-----------------------------------------------------------------18 First language loss-----------------------------------------------------------------------------19 Second language literacy----------------------------------------------------------------------20 Positive and negative effects of bilingualism ----------------------------------------------23 Effects of first language on second language ----------------------------------------------25 Process related to reading in the L1 and L2 and oral language acquisition------------27 Phonological awareness--------------------------------------------------------------27 Syntactic awareness------------------------------------------------------------------28 Script awareness----------------------------------------------------------------------29 Sociocultural factors involved in speaking, reading and writing------------------------29 THE IMPACT OF SCRIPT ON READING vii Gender differences in language and literacy skill acquisition------------------29 The role of SES in second language and literacy skill acquisition-------------31 The role of ethnicity in second language and literacy skill acquisition--------33 Introduction to Urdu language---------------------------------------------------------------34 Urdu script--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------35 Urdu language ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------35 Arabic language--------------------------------------------------------------------------------36 Arabic dialect-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------36 Arabic script------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37 Arabic versus Urdu script: similarities and differences-----------------------------------37 OBJECTIVES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------38 THE PRESENT STUDY------------------------------------------------------------------------------39 RESEARCH QUESTIONS---------------------------------------------------------------------------39 METHOD-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40 Participants-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40 Demographics: Family language questionnaire-------------------------------------------41 Measures----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------43 English measures---------------------------------------------------------------------43 English word reading----------------------------------------------------------------43 The Woodcock
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