Teaching Vocabulary to Diaglossic Student

In this study, the main hypothesis is that diglossia may impede vocabulary growth of bilingual students [in L1 Arabic], butthey should eventually improve in the upper cycle. A correlation design based on a two-stage random sample was used with100 participants including pre-schoolers, first, second, fourth and fifth graders, answering a standardized, US normed picturevocabulary test. Parents and teachers were also surveyed to answer a number of questions related to children’s languagepreference at home and at school and vocabulary teaching practices. The results obtained show that their Arabic skills were notgrade appropriate, especially the older students. Thus the negative effect worsens for the older group. Both parents and teachersrecognized the challenges posed by the diglossia effect in knowledge transfer and most of them had no reliable strategies to drawon. Diglossia was therefore shown to impede vocabulary development in young Arabic of bilingual students, a finding whichshould call for a reform in the Arabic language instruction in the school system of all Arabic speaking countries. Implicationsof the study are detailed, and a number of instructional strategies are provided to palliate the effect of diglossia and address theArabic language deficits.