ERIC Number: EJ882069
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-4632
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Available Date: N/A
The Impact of Incipient Trilinguality on the Socio-Affective Development of Jewish Elementary School Children in Israel
Dubiner, Deborah
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v31 n1 p1-12 Feb 2010
For many decades now, applied linguistics studies have investigated the impact of second language acquisition on various aspects of the development of school children. Few studies, however, have focused on the simultaneous acquisition of two additional/second languages in the classroom. The present paper explores the impact of a spoken Arabic language programme in a Jewish elementary school in Israel on the children's socio-affective (attitudinal) development. The participants of the study comprised fourth-grade students studying two second languages, English and Arabic (the focal group), and comparable children in a regular programme, who study only one second language, English, in school (the control group). Participants answered attitude questionnaires; in addition, interviews with the Arabic teachers were carried out. Results indicated that participating in a spoken Arabic programme in elementary school indeed had a positive impact on Jewish children's attitudes towards the Arabic language, culture and population. It is hoped that information from this study will be useful in designing and implementing innovative language programmes throughout the globe. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Semitic Languages, Second Language Learning, Multilingualism, Control Groups, Elementary School Students, Jews, Applied Linguistics, Second Languages, Program Effectiveness, Foreign Countries, Oral Language, Second Language Instruction, Language Attitudes, Student Attitudes, Questionnaires, Interviews, Teacher Attitudes, Program Design, Program Implementation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
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Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
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Author Affiliations: N/A