title: How Does the Linguistic Distance Between Spoken and Standard Language in Arabic Affect Recall and Recognition Performances During Verbal Memory Examination.
abstract: The current research examined how Arabic diglossia affects verbal learning memory. Thirty native Arab college students were tested using auditory verbal memory test that was adapted according to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and developed in three versions: Pure spoken language version (SL), pure standard language version (SA), and phonologically similar version (PS). The result showed that for immediate free-recall, the performances were better for the SL and the PS conditions compared to the SA one. However, for the parts of delayed recall and recognition, the results did not reveal any significant consistent effect of diglossia. Accordingly, it was suggested that diglossia has a significant effect on the storage and short term memory functions but not on long term memory functions. The results were discussed in light of different approaches in the field of bilingual memory.
authors.affiliation: The Cognitive Lab for Learning and Reading Research, Sakhnin College for Teacher Education, P.O. Box 100, Sakhnin, Israel. htaha@sakhnin.ac.il.|The Graduate Studies for learning Disabilities, Sakhnin College for Teacher Education, Sakhnin, Israel. htaha@sakhnin.ac.il.|The Unit for the Study of Arabic Language, Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. htaha@sakhnin.ac.il.
authors.forename: Haitham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008037:Linguistics; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D019303:Multilingualism; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arabic language; Bilingualism; Diglossia; LTM; Learning; Recall; Recognition; STM; Verbal memory