Predictors of Single Word Reading in Arabic

Rima Balshe; Jackie Masterson

doi:10.1080/02702711.2026.2661655

Predictors of Single Word Reading in Arabic

Rima Balshe
, Jackie Masterson

Knowledge Hub Universities
Coventry University Egypt
University College London

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Children’s rate of literacy development is influenced by the writing system in which they are learning to read. Studies of reading development in Arabic are few in number in comparison to those conducted in English and other European languages. The current study examined predictors of single word reading in 116 third-grade Arabic speaking children. Measures included nonverbal ability, vocabulary, verbal STM, phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), orthographic processing, morphological awareness, word recognition, and nonword reading fluency. PA was the strongest predictor of reading accuracy and nonword reading fluency, followed by verbal STM, RAN and orthographic processing, which also made significant contributions. Morphological awareness explained a modest but statistically significant proportion of variance in word recognition. The findings are discussed in terms of orthographic depth. It is argued that these findings highlight the need for a multidimensional framework of orthographic depth that encompasses linguistic and orthographic features.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	(In-Press)
Number of pages	30
Journal	Reading Psychology
Volume	(In-Press)
Early online date	28 Apr 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2026.2661655
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 28 Apr 2026
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

© 2026 The author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis group, llc
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s)or with their consent.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Linguistics and Language

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10.1080/02702711.2026.2661655Licence: CC BY

Balshe2026VoRFinal published version, 0.99 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Predictors of Single Word Reading in Arabic",

abstract = "Children{\textquoteright}s rate of literacy development is influenced by the writing system in which they are learning to read. Studies of reading development in Arabic are few in number in comparison to those conducted in English and other European languages. The current study examined predictors of single word reading in 116 third-grade Arabic speaking children. Measures included nonverbal ability, vocabulary, verbal STM, phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), orthographic processing, morphological awareness, word recognition, and nonword reading fluency. PA was the strongest predictor of reading accuracy and nonword reading fluency, followed by verbal STM, RAN and orthographic processing, which also made significant contributions. Morphological awareness explained a modest but statistically significant proportion of variance in word recognition. The findings are discussed in terms of orthographic depth. It is argued that these findings highlight the need for a multidimensional framework of orthographic depth that encompasses linguistic and orthographic features.",

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N2 - Children’s rate of literacy development is influenced by the writing system in which they are learning to read. Studies of reading development in Arabic are few in number in comparison to those conducted in English and other European languages. The current study examined predictors of single word reading in 116 third-grade Arabic speaking children. Measures included nonverbal ability, vocabulary, verbal STM, phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN), orthographic processing, morphological awareness, word recognition, and nonword reading fluency. PA was the strongest predictor of reading accuracy and nonword reading fluency, followed by verbal STM, RAN and orthographic processing, which also made significant contributions. Morphological awareness explained a modest but statistically significant proportion of variance in word recognition. The findings are discussed in terms of orthographic depth. It is argued that these findings highlight the need for a multidimensional framework of orthographic depth that encompasses linguistic and orthographic features.

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Predictors of Single Word Reading in Arabic

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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