Reading Development in Vowelised and Unvowelised Arabic: Cognitive, Linguistic and Environmental Predictors

Abstract

Arabic presents a unique orthographic context characterised by two script conditions — vowelised and unvowelised — that vary in orthographic transparency. This study investigated the effect of this within-language variation in orthographic depth on three reading outcomes: decoding accuracy and rate, word reading accuracy and rate, and sentence reading comprehension among fourth-grade Arabic-speaking children. It also examined the contribution of cognitive, linguistic, and environmental predictors to these reading outcomes across both conditions. A sample of 115 fourth-grade children from three schools representing different socioeconomic backgrounds in Saudi Arabia participated in the study. Reading, cognitive, and linguistic measures were administered alongside a parental questionnaire assessing socioeconomic status, home literacy environment, and Qur'anic recitation. Multiple complementary analytical approaches were employed, including stepwise regression, partition analysis, and structural equation modelling. The findings are discussed in relation to current theoretical accounts of reading development and existing empirical evidence on Arabic literacy acquisition.