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The Golden Triangle for academic success- Bringing Research & Practice Together: Investigating Academic Vocabulary among Middle- School AraAbicbNstartiavectSpeakers Introduction Abstract Method Results The current study attempted to investigate academic vocabulary knowledge in middle Discussion school in the shadows of diglossic Arabic, impacting the ability to cope with Implications informational texts. For this purpose, 1,322 Arabic native speaking middle school pupils The study participated in this study, representing the different subgroups of the Arab minority in Israel (i.e. general Arab community, Druze community and Bedouin community). Three outcomes academic vocabulary measures were developed, examining academic vocabulary References declarative knowledge, application of academic vocabulary in context and production of academic vocabulary. Differences in academic vocabulary knowledge were assessed in relation to age group, Arab sub-group affiliation and gender differences. The results pointed to a significant differences between the age groups in all the evaluation measures, where 7th graders showed the lowest performance when compared to 8th and 9th grade. Also, significant differences were obtained between the Arab sub-groups where the lowest performance was noted among the Bedouin community, characterized by lower socio-economic background, where the highest performance was found among the Druze community. In addition, gender differences were encountered, pointing to girls’ superiority in performance across all measures and age groups.Dr Bahaa’ Makkoul123 & Prof. Elite Olshtaine 2 Contact: Oranim Academic College E-M@il: [email protected] The Hebrew University, Jerusalem The Center for Educational Technology

Language Proficiency and Academic SuccessI  As texts become more complex,N reading comprehension and learningT process relies greatly on academicR word knowledge where low academicO vocabulary knowledge is seen as theD main obstacle for pupils in the way forU meaning construction when dealingC with academic texts (Stahl & Shiel,T 1992; Cummins, 2003).IO  In middle school, pupils are confronted  Indeed, depicting appropriateN with more intricate, linguistically richer, academic vocabulary within a specific and more diverse texts across the discipline is associated with success in different content areas as the that subject (National Institute for complexity of academic materials Literacy, 2007). In Arabic, previous escalates through the grades (Fang, research among elementary Arabic Schleppergell & Cox, 2006). native speaking pupils has showed that vocabulary correlates with both word  Academic words, characterizing reading and text reading as well as academic writing, are one of the reading comprehension (Makhoul & prominent contributors to academic Ibrahim, 2014)) texts abstraction and density (Townsend, Filippini, Collins & Biancarosa, 2012).

The Route to Academic Success: Academic vocabulary and literacyI Why is academic vocabularyN important?TR  Educational content developers andO professionals in education suggest thatD the recurrent academic words thatU appear across different domains andC academic genres are important and thusT it is of a greater importance to acquireI this cluster of words than lowerO frequency words that are domain-N specific (Nation, 2001). What is Academic vocabulary?  For example, recent study has found that cross discipline academic word Academic vocabulary constitutes 8%-10% knowledge accounted significantly for of academic texts and is mainly utilized for large proportion of variance in English- academic writing purposes (Nation, 2001). speaking middle-school students’ The term Academic Vocabulary refers to academic achievement across different the frequently utilized academic words that knowledge domains (Townsend, are salient across the different genres of Filippini, Collins & Biancarosa 2012). academic writings that are not otherwise a prominent characteristic of other texts' types (Coxhead & Nation, 2001; Coxhead, 2000).

The curious case of diglossic Arabic - Challenges in literacy Development in Diglossic ArabicI The Diglossic nature of ArabicN LanguageTR  Mainly, the linguistic gap between itsO spoken (SA) and literary form (fusha) that isD markedly seen in phonology, morphology,U syntax and vocabulary, pose an immenseC challenge for literacy acquisition in ArabicT (Ferguson, 1959; Khamis-Dakwar & Froud,I 2007).ON  Children are formally exposed to fusha only upon commencing elementary school. Rich exposure to academic vocabulary occurs only when commencing middle school, as pupils are constantly required to cope with expository texts in different domains. Socio-economic Status  The educational system in Israel is divided into two sectors- Arab and Jewish, where Arab school children make up approximately 25% of the country’s school pupils.  The educational Arab subsystem is furtherer divided into three branches: general Arab, Druze and Bedouin. Gaps between Arab and Jews are found across different layers, including education, employment, wages, and family size that in turn contribute to the immense gaps in socio-economic status between the two groups (Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2014).  Discrepancies in SES are also noted within the Arab population, aggravating among the Bedouin community.  As indicated by Pisa results (2012), 50% of Arabic speaking pupils are below the expected literacy proficiency level where poorer performance has been encountered among the Arab sector in Israel when compared to the Jewish sector.   Only 38% of Arab high school pupils were eligible for a matriculation certificate in comparison to 68% in the Jewish sector.

I The Current StudyNT The aim of the current study is to investigateR Arabic native speakers’ academic vocabularyO knowledge in middle-school, relating to ageD (7th, 8th and 9th grade) , gender differencesU and to group affiliation within the ArabC population in Israel (general ArabT community, Bedouin community and DruzeI community).ON Objectives  Developing a corpus-based high-frequency Arabic general academic vocabulary in middle-school.  Examining academic vocabulary knowledge of middle-school across the different age groups, relating to various knowledge levels: declarative academic vocabulary knowledge, application of academic vocabulary in context and production of academic vocabulary (writing task).  Investigating the differences in academic vocabulary knowledge between the Arab subgroups in Israel: General Arab, Druze and Bedouin communities.

M Participants E T  Data was collected from 1,322 middle-school Arabic Native speakers (7th, 8th and 9th graders) from different regions in Israel, representing the different Arab subgroups.group and gender  A group of qualified middle-school teachers, each from different discipline were H recruited to map the academic vocabulary appearing in the pupils’ textbooks. O D  Forty- six middle-school teacher were asked to determine the required academic vocabulary needed for adequate coping with informational texts in middle-school. The pupils’ distribution in the study by group affiliation, age and gender

The Study ProcedureM The study included 3 main phases:ET 1)First, we mapped the academic vocabulary appearing in the pupils’ text books inH middle school across 4 disciplines, developing a general academic word list thatO included the most frequent 184 word roots.D 2) Aftermath, we asked 46 middle school teachers to rate the 45 most required word roots for dealing with informational texts in middle school, cross checking their selection with the most frequent 50 word-roots. To complete a 50 word-roots list, 5 novel high frequency word-roots (with accordance to the teachers’ rating) were added. Ultimately, another 5 non-cross checked words, creating a 55 word-roots list, utilized for developing the evaluation tests. 3) In the last phase, we administrated the tests in the field. Test administration was carried in the different sampled schools in 7th, 8th and 9th grade. Each pupil received an hour-and- half academic vocabulary assessment test. - Tools

R Differences in academic vocabulary knowledgeE between the age groupsSU  To examine the differenceL between the age groups andT subgroups, Kruskal-Wallis non-S parametric test was conducted.  To investigate the differences between the genders, t-test for independent samples was performed. Differences in academic vocabulary knowledge between the subgroups Differences in academic vocabulary knowledge between the genders 12 3 1. t(637.07= -0.38, p<.001), t(4.18)= -2.55, p<.01. 2. t(756)= 4.81, p<.001), t(412.5)= 4.88, p<.001 3. t(578)=2.19, p<.05, t(348.12)=3.77, p<.001.

D  The obtained data didn’t yield a conclusive developmental trend in academicI vocabulary throughout middle school, where unexpectedly, the pupils’S performance in 9th grade was lower than 7th and 8th grade, requiring furtherC investigation.US  In overall, the pupils’ performance points to low academic vocabularyS knowledge as reflected in their low mean scores.IO  As previously found in national literacy tests, the results point to discrepanciesN in academic vocabulary knowledge between the different Arab subgroups (Israeli Knesset, 2013a; Edi-Rokah et al., 2011. Accordingly, the Bedouin subgroup showed the lowest performance when compared to the general Arab and Druze subgroups.  As previously documented, gender differences were found in in academic vocabulary knowledge where higher performance was noted among girls when compared to boys.  The obtained results have several implications for both educational research and education policy and practices in the Arab sector, pointing to the necessity for thorough scientific initiatives in the field of Arabic vocabulary instruction and literacy development.  The obtained results also served to establish a normative data set for purpose of assessment and evaluation and included many implications for the future research initiatives and suggestions for education policy revisions.  Currently, we are working on developing Arabic language textbooks for 7th and 8th grade.  In addition, an academic vocabulary intervention program is being developed that will enable promotion word knowledge and literacy skills (reading comprehension and written expression). Last but not least, we are working on validating productive and receptive Arabic vocabulary tests.

……The Day AfterIMPLICATIONS

One of the most prominent by products of the current research is the development of an academic word list in Arabic. Two lists have been developed. A complete list with a total of 8118 words in addition to another list containing the most frequent 55 word roots, each represented by 3 derived words: the most frequent word in addition to two words conveying different meaning.I Normative 7TH gradeM DataP Norms as a function of subgroup affiliationLI Evaluation test General Arab Druze BedouinCA Declarative academic N M SD N M SD N M SDT vocabulary 90 88.53 11.30I 565 91.6 10.92 103 89.30 10.16ON Academic vocabulary 543 44.58 28.05 101 52.34 24.37 83 36.58 24.96S Application in context Academic vocabulary 276 71.43 21.32 96 72.33 17.34 74 56.76 27.37 sentence production The research data had served to establish normative data set for each evaluation test across groups, as a function of gender and as a function of group affiliation. Here presented data across groups within 7th grade group.

To assess receptive and productive academic vocabulary ability two test were Developed. Assessment testsI Receptive Academic Vocabulary Productive academic vocabularyM testP testL The test was based on the PVLT testI The test was based on the VLT testC (Schmitt et al. (2001). Items are (Laufer & Nation, 1999). test-takersA clustered together in 11 groups (55 have to complete a missing word inT words) . Each cluster has 5 words in 55 different sentence contexts whereI a column on the left and the they are given the first letters of theO corresponding meaning senses of target word as a cue.N three of these in another column onS the right. Learners are asked to match each meaning sense in the right-hand column which one single word from the left-hand column Arabic language text book for 7th grade The book includes 18 units that address the multiple literacy skills and required linguistic knowledge in 7th grade as established by the Arabic language curriculum. As part of learning process, the pupils are exposed to the different academic vocabulary repertoire as mapped in our study. The book included digitized units and is accompanied by a teacher guide.

Academic vocabulary intervention program Content Pilot study implementation Program developing evaluationI Currently we are working on developing an academic vocabulary interventionM program for middle school students. We have initialed in developing the programP content material, both in print and digitized. A pilot study will be conducted uponL finishing the material preparation to be then implemented in the different schoolI in Israel. The program will be accompanied by an evaluation study to examine itsC efficacy and contribution.AT TO BE CONTINUED….I ………ONS

R Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34, 213-238.E Coxhead, A., & Nation, I. S. P. (2001). The specialized vocabulary of English forFE academic purposes. In J. Flowerdew & M. Peacock (Eds.), ResearchR perspectives on English for academic purposes (pp. 252–267). Cambridge:E Cambridge University Press.N Cummins, J. (2003). Basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitiveC academic language proficiency. BICS and CALP. Accessed on July, 25,E 2010.S Edi-Rokah, A., Biran, H. & Fridman-Goldberg, S., (2011), Junior High school: characteristics and challenges, an ordered review as a background material for a language and literacy committee. http://education.academy.ac.il. [In Hebrew] Fang, Z., Schleppegrell, M. J., & Cox, B. E. (2006). Understanding the language demands of schooling: Nouns in academic registers. Journal of Literacy Research, 38(3), 247-273. Ferguson, C. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15, 325-340. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (2014) Statistical abstract of Israel. Khamis-Dakwar, R. & Froud, K. (2007) Lexical processing in two language varieties:An event-related brain potential study of Arabic native speakers. In M. Mughazy (Ed.) Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XX (pp. 153- 168). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Knesset Research and Information Center (2013). Background report on school outcomes in the Arab sector. (Hebrew). Makhoul, B., & Ibrahim, R. (2014). Could an Interactive-Balanced Environment for Reading Acquisition Overcome the Triad Risk Factors: Low Socioeconomic Status, Low Literacy Skills and Language Properties?. Psychology, 5(19), 2200. Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. National Institute for Literacy (2007). What content-area teachers should know about adolescent literacy. Washington D.C.: The National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). OECD (2012), Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators, OECD, Paris. Stahl, S. A., & Shiel, T. G. (1992). Teaching meaning vocabulary: Productive approaches for poor readers. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 8(2), 223-241. Townsend, D., Filippini, A., Collins, P., & Biancarosa, G. (2012). Evidence for the importance of academic word knowledge for the academic achievement of diverse middle school students. The Elementary School Journal, 112(3), 497-518.