Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2018 Reading across Different Orthographies: Urdu, Arabic, Hindi and English Amna Mirza [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Educational Methods Commons, and the Language and Literacy Education Commons Recommended Citation Mirza, Amna, "Reading across Different Orthographies: Urdu, Arabic, Hindi and English" (2018). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 2059. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2059 This Dissertation 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: READING ACROSS DIFFERENT ORTHOGRAPHIES Reading across Different Orthographies: Urdu, Arabic, Hindi and English By Amna Mirza, M.A. Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Psychology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology Wilfrid Laurier University June 18th, 2018 © Amna Mirza READING ACROSS DIFFERENT ORTHOGRAPHIES ii Abstract Research on relationships across literacy skills for multiple languages suggests the need for a complex framework that includes linguistic typology as well as cognitive and cultural variables (Schwartz, Geva, Share, & Leikin, 2007). Literature shows that bilinguals activate both languages they know for all linguistic tasks regardless of which language is being used at the time (Kroll & Bialystok, 2013). In that case, learning a third or any additional language is qualitatively different than second language (L2) acquisition. Findings for readers of Roman scripts demonstrate that L1 reading and L2 proficiency influences L2 reading (Cummins, 1979). The current research examined the learning processes for bilinguals learning English as their second language and one of three languages as their first language, Urdu, Arabic and Hindi. These languages were selected because they share either scripts (Urdu & Arabic) or linguistic typologies (Urdu & Hindi). No previous research has examined the effects of learning to read two or three languages where vocabulary, script, morphological and syntactic structures are either shared or dissimilar in terms of different components. Data are presented in three studies. The first study explored how Urdu-English bilinguals perform on L2 (English) word reading when they learn to read English prior to learning to speak English in Pakistan as compared to Urdu-English bilinguals in Canada who learn to speak English prior to learning to read English. The second study explored whether Urdu-English bilinguals take advantage of learning Arabic (similar script as in Urdu language) as another language simultaneously while learning to read English (as L2) over Arabic-English bilinguals. The third study compared Urdu-English and Hindi-English bilinguals in Canada whose oral languages are mutually intelligible. All language groups were compared to each other to determine which factors; shared script, vocabulary, or morphological structure has the strongest influence on second language (English) reading READING ACROSS DIFFERENT ORTHOGRAPHIES iii acquisition in these bilingual children. The findings of the first study showed different patterns for the Urdu-English bilinguals in Canada and in Pakistan. In Canada, there was transfer from L1 measures to L2 reading, while there was no transfer for the sample from Pakistan. The second study showed that the Urdu-English bilinguals had higher scores than the Arabic-English bilinguals on most measures across comparable locations. Therefore, it seems that Urdu-English speakers benefit from another language in similar script as their L1. The findings of the last study showed that L1 reading skills transfer to L2 only in alphabetic languages as compared to if L1 is an alpha-syllabic language in Urdu-English and Hindi-English speakers in Canada. The overall findings show effects of context of language learning and effects of L1 on variables related to English reading performance. They suggest that theories developed for English L2 learners in North America might not apply to English L2 learners in other linguistic contexts. Keywords: bilinguals, second language acquisition, reading, orthographies. READING ACROSS DIFFERENT ORTHOGRAPHIES iv 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 would like to express my most humble gratitude with a deep sense of acknowledgment to my supervisor Dr. Alexandra Gottardo for her useful comments, remarks and engagement through the writing process of this dissertation. She continually and convincingly conveyed a spirit of adventure in regard to research and scholarship, and an excitement in regard to teaching during my PhD program. Without her guidance and persistent help this dissertation would not have been possible. She always made herself available to meet in person or talk on the phone with her most humble and welcoming attitude towards my quick questioning sessions and concerns related to my study. I can never Thank her enough for her support and help throughout my journey at Wilfrid Laurier University. I am greatly indebted to my Dissertation committee members Dr. Eileen Wood, Dr. Jeffery Jones and Dr. John Schwieter for their valuable suggestions and feedback in connection with the completion of my work. I would like to thank the staff of Weekend Language Schools for their help especially for arranging Urdu and Hindi speaker participants for the collection of my data. I owe a very special thank you to my wonderful friends and colleagues Michelle Huo and Ali Jasemi. I would also like to thank Asma Amin for her help and suggestions regarding the Arabic data collection. READING ACROSS DIFFERENT ORTHOGRAPHIES v I also like to thank my lovely sisters Madiha, Khadeeja and Ayesha in Pakistan. They helped me in translating the Urdu measures and the data collection in Pakistan. It was a huge help from them to make this possible in the time frame of three weeks. Without their help in getting the participants for the data collection, this research would not have been completed on time. I would like to thank my family especially my Mom, Dad and my Mamoo Jaan (Asif Majeed), for their unflagging love, support and prayers 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 the process of the data collection and writing this Dissertation. READING ACROSS DIFFERENT ORTHOGRAPHIES vi This research is especially dedicated to my beloved Grand Dad, My Nana Jaan (Late Abdul Majeed) Who started calling me Dr.