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This study investigated phonological whole-word measures in bilingual Arabic-English speakers to explore how the target approximations influence children’s phonological development. To this end, fifteen bilingual Arabic-English speakers and nine monolingual Arabic-speaking children aged 36–48 months (mean = 42) participated in a parent–child conversation. The study calculated four measures: the phonological mean length of utterance (PMLU), the proportion of whole-word proximity (PWP), the proportion of whole-word correctness (PWC), and the percentage consonant accuracy (PCC). The findings revealed significant differences in each measure between bilinguals and monolinguals. It seems that bilinguals’ lower scores resulted from a decreased rate of language exposure, but not because of slow language acquisition and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study evaluates the accountability of Native Listeners (NLs). The study recruited speakers from a mixture of Arabic dialects and accents as one group and LAFL as another group where both groups spoke actual Arabic words with long and short vowels in contrast. A main consequence of choosing the present experimental manipulation is the outcome that NLs of Arabic had increasingly slow right recognitions in the follow-on test. The conclusion of the present experimental manipulation supports the claim that the handling of words is delayed if data accessible to NLs is incomplete. Additionally, this experimental manipulation adds to our awareness of the accountability of the NLs themselves towards LAFL. The study is expected to assist in considering the accountability of listeners in the communication barrier as explained by the inadequate top-down processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between tentative language use and Jordanians' self-awareness of their social identities in the context of self-categorization theory. Previous research has adequately expected and revealed an association between tentative language use and Americans' self-recognition of their gender and social status differences. The present study asks whether the same connection holds in the patriarchal Jordanian society, where men still have more power than women, compared to Western societies. Eighteen Jordanian high-status females were paired with 18 Jordanian low-status males. Participants were asked to discuss some predetermined gender/status-neutral topics after priming one of three social identities available to them: their distinct gender identity, their distinct social status identity, or their shared national identity. Each dyadic intergroup discussion was audiotaped and transcribed. Results demonstrated that Jordanian high-status women are less assertive than Jordanian low-status men in their crossgender verbal communication. Research results revealed that tentative language is gender-preferred in Jordanian society, less affected by the salience of social identities other than gender. Findings suggest that sociolinguistic research on language and gender should consider sociocultural particularities of the community to secure a clearer understanding of how social power is communicated through (tentative) language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]