THE ACQUISITION OF ARABIC LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION BY SAUDI CHILDREN ...

386 Pages·2008·18.61 MB·English

knowledge when interpreting some of the tested morpho-syntactic structures. The way children
interpreted structures that require the comprehension of gender and number inflections is
reported. Younger children were found to be guided more by their lexical knowledge, while
older ones relied on both lexical and syntactic knowledge. While Saudi children were found to
use well-established comprehension strategies such as world knowledge, they also demonstrated
strategies for understanding gender and number inflections which have not been previously
reported. Gender and number inflections were modified in some of the fathers' utterances in the
CDS in a way that violates the rules of Arabic grammar.
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLATION.i
DEDICATION...............................................................................................................II
ACKNOWLEDGMENT...................................................................................................
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................iv
TABLEOF CONTENTS..................................................................................................VI
LISTOF FIGURES.........................................................................................................ix
LISTOF TABLES...........................................................................................................x
LISTOF APPENDICES ................................................................................................XV
TRANSLITERATIONKEY...........................................................................................XVII
ABBREVIATIONSKEY............................................................................................XVIII
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................1
1.1 FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF ASSESSMENT DEVELOPED .............................................................6
1.2 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS.....................................................................................................................9
CHAPTERTWO .............................................................................................................................................11
LITERATUREREVIEW......................................................................................................................11
2.1 SAUDI ARABIA, THE COUNTRY AND THE LANGUAGE ............................................................................11
2.1.1 General background and demographic information about Saudi Arabia....................................11
2.1.2 Religion and culture of Saudi Arabia.........................................................................................14
2.1.3 Speech-language therapy services in Saudi Arabia....................................................................16
2.1.4 Pre-school education in Saudi Arabia ........................................................................................17
2.1.5 Structure of Arabic spoken in Saudi Arabia...............................................................................19
2.2 LANGUAGE ACQUISITION...................................................................................................................... 25
2.2.1 Theories of language acquisition................................................................................................25
2.2.1.1 Behaviourist hypothesis........................................................................................................................ 25
2.2.1.2 Cognitive hypothesis.............................................................................................................................27
2.2.1.3 Linguistic theory of language acquisition (nativist hypothesis)............................................................28
2.2.1.4 Social/Interaction hypothesis................................................................................................................30
2.2.1.5 Competition model (CM)......................................................................................................................33
2.2.2 Language comprehension in normal children ............................................................................37
2.2.2.1 Comprehension definition.....................................................................................................................40
2.2.2.2 Comprehension and production ............................................................................................................42
2.2.2.3 The stages of development of language comprehension.......................................................................51
2.2.3 Theoretical framework for the current study..............................................................................74
2.2.4 Development of comprehension of specific syntactic structures................................................80
2.2.4.1 Nouns inflected for number...................................................................................................................80
2.2.4.2 Singular and plural verbs ......................................................................................................................81
2.2.4.3 Modification..........................................................................................................................................82
2.2.4.4 Active and passive verbs.......................................................................................................................83
2.2.4.5 Prepositions...........................................................................................................................................86
2.2.4.6 Negations ..............................................................................................................................................88
2.2.4.7 Comparatives & Superlatives................................................................................................................90
2.2.4.8 Commands............................................................................................................................................91
2.2.4.9 Possessives............................................................................................................................................92
2.2.4.10 Personal pronouns............................................................................................................................93
2.2.5 Comprehension strategies...........................................................................................................98
2.2.6 Language comprehension in children with language disorders................................................102
2.2.7 The acquisition of Arabic as a first language...........................................................................108
2.2.7.1 Omar's(1973)study...........................................................................................................................108
2.2.8 Factors that aid comprehension................................................................................................112
2.2.9 Child Directed Speech (CDS) ..................................................................................................113
2.3 COMPREHENSION ASSESSMENT...........................................................................................................120
2.3.1 Criterion-Referenced Tests.......................................................................................................128
2.3.1.1 Construction of criterion-referenced tests ...........................................................................................131
2.3.2 A review of some of the current tests of language comprehension..........................................136
2.3.2.1 English Picture Vocabulary Test (EPVT): Brimer & Dunn (1973).....................................................140
2.3.2.2 British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS): Dunn et al. (1982)............................................................140
2.3.2.3 Boehm Test of Basic Concepts: Boehm (1986) ..................................................................................141
2.3.2.4 Derbyshire Language Schemes (DLS): Knowles & Masidlover (1982) .............................................142
2.3.2.5 Miller-Yoder Language Comprehension Test (MY): Miller & Yoder (1984).....................................143
2.3.2.6 Test for the Reception Of Grammar (TROG): Bishop (1989).............................................................144
2.3.2.7 Sentence comprehension Test (SCT): Wheldall et al. (1987)..............................................................145
VI
2.3.3 Existing assessment procedures for child language in Arabic..................................................146
2.3.4 Hearing assessment ..................................................................................................................147
PROCEDURES & METHODS........................................................................................................... 150
3.1 THE QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTED TO SAUDI SPEECH-LANGUAGE THERAPISTS .................................152
3.1.1 Aims of the questionnaire ........................................................................................................152
3.1.2 Questions asked in the questionnaire .......................................................................................152
3.1.3 Questionnaire results................................................................................................................152
3.2 THE STUDY OF CHILD DIRECTED SPEECH (CDS)................................................................................153
3.2.1 Stage! (pilot study) .................................................................................................................153
3.2.1.1 Subjects............................................................................................................................................... 153
3.2.1.2 Method................................................................................................................................................154
3.2.2 Stage II study............................................................................................................................ 155
3.2.2.1 Subjects............................................................................................................................................... 155
3.2.2.2 Method................................................................................................................................................ 156
3.3 THE STUDY OF THE ACQUISITION OF ARABIC LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION........................................162
3.3.1 Aim...........................................................................................................................................162
3.3.2 Pilot study.................................................................................................................................163
3.3.2.1 The test construction...........................................................................................................................164
3.3.2.2 Criteria for selecting the study subjects...............................................................................................168
3.3.2.3 Performance of the pilot test...............................................................................................................170
3.3.3 The main study.........................................................................................................................172
3.3.3.1 Subjects...............................................................................................................................................173
3.3.4 Modification of test materials...................................................................................................174
3.3.4.1 Steps for carrying out the study...........................................................................................................176
3.3.4.2 Test protocol .......................................................................................................................................177
3.3.4.3 Testing situation..................................................................................................................................181
3.3.4.4 Re-testing............................................................................................................................................181
3.3.4.5 Scoring................................................................................................................................................181
RESULTS..............................................................................................................................................183
4.1 RESULTS OF THE CHILD DIRECTED SPEECH (CDS) STUDY.................................................................183
4.1.1 Vocabulary structure of fathers' speech in the CDS study.......................................................183
4.1.1.1 Dialect variations between fathers.......................................................................................................185
4.1.2 Syntactic complexity of fathers' speech in the CDS study.......................................................186
4.1.2.1 The use of non-standard sentences......................................................................................................191
4.1.3 Discourse functions present in the CDS study .........................................................................193
4.2 RESULTS OF THE SAUDI CHILDREN'S LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDY......................................... 195
4.2.1 Results of the pre-testing procedure.........................................................................................195
4.2.1.1 Dialect words checklist.......................................................................................................................195
4.2.1.2 Hearing screening................................................................................................................................195
4.2.1.3 Results of the receptive vocabulary pre-test........................................................................................195
4.2.2 Results of the test of language comprehension .......................................................................198
4.2.2.1 The effect of the age and gender variables on the scores of the objects and pictures sub-tests...........201
4.2.2.2 Children's performance on the objects sub-test ..................................................................................203
4.2.2.3 Children's performance on the pictures sub-test.................................................................................206
4.2.2.4 Children's performance on the sum of the scores of objects and pictures sub-tests............................208
4.2.2.5 The relationship between the objects and pictures sub-tests ...............................................................210
4.2.2.6 Sensitivity of individual structures to the age variable........................................................................212
4.2.2.7 The order and age of acquisition of the tested structures ....................................................................214
4.2.3 Comprehension patterns of the structures tested by objects.....................................................217
4.2.3.1 Possessives..........................................................................................................................................217
4.2.3.2 Prepositions.........................................................................................................................................218
4.2.3.3 Complex commands............................................................................................................................220
4.2.4 Comprehension patterns of the structures tested by pictures....................................................221
4.2.4.1 Structures that require lexical knowledge only ...................................................................................224
4.2.4.2 Structures that require the use of both lexical and syntactic knowledge .............................................229
4.2.5 The relationship between CDS and the study of language comprehension..............................246
4.2.6 Results of the reliability testing................................................................................................248
4.2.6.1 Results of the test re-test reliability.....................................................................................................248
4.2.6.2 Internal consistency results .................................................................................................................253
VII
DISCUSSION .255
5.1 CHILD DIRECTED SPEECH (CDS)........................................................................................................ 255
5.2 LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDY..................................................................................................262
5.2.1 Hearing screening.....................................................................................................................262
5.2.2 Receptive Vocabulary Pre-test (RVP)......................................................................................264
5.2.3 The test of morpho-syntax comprehension ..............................................................................267
5.2.3.1 Items which were excluded from the pictures sub-test........................................................................269
5.2.3.2 Gender variable...................................................................................................................................271
5.2.3.3 Sensitivity of objects, pictures sub-tests and their sum to the age variable.........................................272
5.2.3.4 The Relationship between the scores of objects and pictures sub-tests...............................................275
5.2.3.5 Sensitivity of individual structures to the age variables......................................................................276
5.2.3.6 Structures' order and age of acquisition..............................................................................................279
5.2.4 Comprehension patterns of the structures tested by objects.....................................................282
5.2.4.1 Possessives..........................................................................................................................................283
5.2.4.2 Prepositions.........................................................................................................................................284
5.2.4.3 Complex commands............................................................................................................................288
5.2.5 Comprehension patterns of the structures tested by pictures and require lexical knowledge only.
.....................................................................................................................................290
5.2.5.1 Structures that require the knowledge of two lexical cues ..................................................................290
5.2.5.2 Structures that require the knowledge of three lexical cues.................................................................291
5.2.5.3 Summary of the discussion on structures that require lexical knowledge only...................................294
5.2.6 Comprehension patterns of the structures tested by pictures and requiring the use of both lexical
andsyntactic knowledge.........................................................................................................................295
5.2.6.1 Negation..............................................................................................................................................295
5.2.6.2 Gender inflection.................................................................................................................................298
5.2.6.3 Active and passive verbs.....................................................................................................................300
5.2.6.4 Number inflection...............................................................................................................................304
5.2.6.5 Comparatives ......................................................................................................................................309
5.2.6.6 Subject modification...........................................................................................................................310
5.2.6.7 Summary of the discussion on structures that require the use of both lexical and syntactic knowledge3 12
5.2.7 The fmdings of this study interpreted in terms of the Competition Model ..............................315
5.2.8 The relationship between CDS and the study of language comprehension..............................318
5.2.9 Reliability.................................................................................................................................321
5.2.9.1 Test re-test reliability..........................................................................................................................321
5.2.9.2 Internal consistency.............................................................................................................................322
5.3 DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED N THE srurw.......................................................................................324
5.3.1 Difficulties encountered in the CDS study...............................................................................324
5.3.2 Difficulties encountered in the language comprehension study...............................................324
6 EPILOGUE...........................................................................................................................................326
6.1 MODIFICATIONS THAT WILL BE PERFORMED TO THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION ............327
6.1.1 Vocabulary pre-test..................................................................................................................327
6.1.2 Morpho-syntax comprehension test .........................................................................................328
6.1.2.1 Selection of subjects............................................................................................................................328
6.1.2.2 Difficulty of items...............................................................................................................................328
6.1.2.3 Structures which need to be tested by objects instead of pictures.......................................................329
6.1.2.4 Structures which need to be expanded................................................................................................330
6.1.2.5 Scoring of the test...............................................................................................................................330
6.2 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE TEST ..........................................................................................333
6.2.1 Item analysis.............................................................................................................................333
6.3 NORMATIVE DATA..............................................................................................................................334
6.4 TEST MANUAL ....................................................................................................................................335
6.5 TRAININGONUSINGTHETEST............................................................................................................336
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................337
7.1 SUMMARYOFTHERESULTS................................................................................................................337
7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................................................................................................................344
7.2.1 Recommendations for the clinical test of language comprehension.........................................344
7.2.2 General recommendations for a language test to be performed in Saudi.................................345
REFERENCES............................................................................................................34
VIII
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 2.1 A MAP OF SAUDI ARABIA INCLUDING MAJOR CITIES AND BORDERS...........................13
FIGURE 4.1 NUMBER OF LEXICAL ITEMS PASSED BY EVERY AGE GROUP.....................................197
FIGURE 4.2 SCORES OF THE OBJECTS SUB-TEST ACHIEVED BY EVERY AGE GROUP......................204
FIGURE 4.3 SCORES OF THE PICTURES SUB-TEST ACHIEVED BY EVERY AGE GROUP....................206
FIGURE4.4 TOTAL SCORES ACHIEVED BY EVERY AGE GROUP.....................................................208
FIGURE 6.1 THE PROPOSED CHART FOR PROFILING CHILDREN'S RESULTS IN THE CLINICAL TEST OF
LANGUAGECOMPREHENSION...............................................................................................331
Ix
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 2.1 Ti-IE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SAUDI POPULATION IN THE THIRTEEN ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS (1974 &
1992).....................................................................................................................................................12
TABLE 2.2 TOTAL POPULATION OF SAUDI AI.BIA ACCORDING TO 1992 CENSUS.......................................... 12
TABLE 2.3 SAUDI CITIES WITH THE LARGEST POPULATION ACCORDING TO 1974 AND 1992 CENSUS..............14
TABLE2.4 NURSERY SCHOOLS AND PUPILS IN 1995....................................................................................... 18
TABLE2.5 ARABIC FREE PRONOUNS ALONG WITH THEIR INFLECTIONS...........................................................22
TABLE 2.6 ARABIC BOUND PRONOUNS ATTACHED TO NOUNS ALONG WITH THEIR INFLECTIONS ....................22
TABLE 2.7 ARABIC BOUND PRONOUNS ATTACHED TO VERBS ALONG WITH THEIR INFLECTIONS .....................22
TABLE 2.8 ARABIC BOUND PRONOUNS ATTACHED TO PREPOSITIONS ALONG WITH THEIR INFLECTIONS.........23
TABLE 2.9 THE POSSIBLE CUES USED BY THE CHILD TO INTERPRET THE SENTENCE ........................................79
TABLE 2.10 THE PERCENTAGE OF CORRECT RESPONSES FOR COMPARATIVE/SUPERLATIVE COMPREHENSION TASK
BYAGE (LAYTON & STICK, 1979).........................................................................................................90
TABLE 2.11 A SUMMARY OF THE STUDIES MENTIONED IN SECTION 2.2 INCLUDING A SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS
.............................................................................................................................................95
TABLE 2.12 THE AGE AND GENDER OF OMAR'S COMPREHENSION TEST SUBJECTS........................................ 109
TABLE 2.13 DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS INVESTIGATED IN HAMPSON & NELSON'S STUDY OF MOTHERS SPEECH TO
THEIR 1; 1 YEAR-OLD CHILDREN.......................................................................................................... 117
TABLE 2.14 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THREE COGNITIVE SEMANTIC TESTS REVIEWED IN THE CURRENT
STUDY................................................................................................................................................. 138
TABLE 2.15 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT FOUR LINGUISTIC PROCESSING TESTS REVIEWED IN THE CURRENT
STUDY................................................................................................................................................. 139
TABLE 3.1 DETAILS OF THE CDS STUDIES INCLUDING SUBJECTS, PERIOD AND PLACE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
STUDY................................................................................................................................................. 153
TABLE3.2 STAGE I STUDY SUBJECTS' DETAILS............................................................................................ 153
TABLE3.3 STAGE II STUDYSUBJECTS' DETAILS...........................................................................................156
TABLE 3.4 THE CODES USED BY HAMPSON & NELSON (1993) FOR DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS .........................161
TABLE 3.5 TIME PERIODS OF THE TWO PHASES USED FOR TESTING LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDIES. ..163
TABLE 3.6 STUDY SUBJECTS' DETAILS INCLUDING THEIR GROUP NUMBER, AGE RANGE AND GENDER.........173
TABLE3.7 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND OF STUDY SUBJECTS' PARENTS..................................................... 174
TABLE3.8 OCCUPATION OF STUDY SUBJECTS' FATHERS ..............................................................................174
TABLE3.9 OCCUPATION OF STUDY SUBJECTS' MOTHERS .............................................................................174
TABLE 3.10 STRUCTURES THAT WERE REMOVED FROM THE TEST AND THE REASON FOR REMOVING THEM.. 174
TABLE 3.11 DIFFICULT VOCABULARY ITEMS FOR CHILDREN TO COMPREHEND AND THE ACTION RECOMMENDED
TODEALWITHTHEM........................................................................................................................... 175
TABLE 3.12 AGE GROUPS AND GENDER OF THE NINE CHILDREN WHO WERE RE-TESTED...............................181
TABLE 4.1 VOCABULARY ITEMS AND THEIR FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE IN THE SPEECH OF THE 12 FATI-IERSS.
........................................................................................................................................... 184
x
TABLE4.2 OCCASIONS WHERE THREE OF THE FATHERS USED BT WORDS.................................................... 185
TABLE4.3 WORDS WHICH VARY ACCORDING TO THE FATHERS' DIALCTS ..................................................186
TABLE 4.4 THE FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF THE SEARCHED MORPHO-SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES PRODUCED BY
EACHOF THE 12 FATHERS....................................................................................................................187
TABLE 4.5 NAMES OF STRUCTURES CORRESPONDING TO NUMBERS OF STRUCTURES IN TABLE 4.4..............188
TABLE 4.6 NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STRUCTURES USED BY EVERY FATHER AND THE NUMBER OF TIMES THESE
STRUCTURES WERE USED AFTER ANALYSING THE FIRST 160 UUERANCES OF EVERY FATHER'S CORPUS. 189
TABLE4.7 NUMBER OF VERBS USED BY EVERY FATHER............................................................................... 190
TABLE 4.8 THE NON-STANDARD SENTENCES AND CHILDREN WHOSE FATHERS SAID THESE SENTENCES .......192
TABLE 4.9 THE DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS PRESENT IN THE FIRST 160 UTTERANCES OF EVERY FATHER'S SPEECH.194
TABLE 4.10 NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO FAILED THE 12 LEXICAL ITEMS AT EVERY AGE GROUP...................196
TABLE 4.11 THE EFFECT OF THE AGE AND GENDER VARIABLES AS WELL AS THEIR INTERACTION ON THE SCORES
OFTHE VOCABULARY PRE-TEST........................................................................................................... 197
TABLE4.12 CHILDREN'S CHOICES ON THE FOUR PICTURES PRESENTED........................................................199
TABLE4.13 ITEM 3.1 .................................................................................................................................... 200
TABLE4.14 ITEM 4.1 .................................................................................................................................... 200
TABLE4.15 ITEM 7.3 .................................................................................................................................... 200
TABLE4.16 ITEM 10.2 .................................................................................................................................. 200
TABLE4.17 ITEM 13.1 .................................................................................................................................. 201
TABLE4.181mM20.3 .................................................................................................................................. 201
TABLE 4.19 THE EFFECT OF INTERACTION OF THE GENDER AND AGE VARIABLES ON THE SCORES OF OBJECTS AND
PICTURESSUB-TESTS...........................................................................................................................202
TABLE 4.20 THE EFFECT OF THE GENDER VARIABLE ON THE SCORES OF OBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-TESTS.202
TABLE 4.21 THE EFFECT OF THE AGE VARIABLE ON THE SCORES OF OBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-TEST........203
TABLE 4.22 THE MEAN SCORES AND THEIR STANDARD DEVIATIONS OBTAINED BY THE SUBJECTS IN THE OBJECTS
SUB-TEST............................................................................................................................................203
TABLE 4.23 THE EFFECT OF THE AGE VARIABLE ON THE SCORES OF THE OBJECTS SUB-TEST........................204
TABLE 4.24 RESULTS OF THE TUKEY'S HSD PAIR WISE COMPARISONS BETWEEN AGE GROUPS APPLIED ON THE
SCORESOF THE OBJECTS SUB-TEST...................................................................................................... 205
TABLE 4.25 THE MEAN SCORES AND THEIR STANDARD DEVIATIONS OBTAINED BY THE SUBJECTS IN THE PICTURES
SUB-TEST.............................................................................................................................................206
TABLE 4.26 THE EFFECT OF THE AGE VARIABLE ON THE SCORES OF THE PICTURES SUB-TEST......................206
TABLE 4.27 RESULTS OF THE TUKEY'S HSD PAIRWISE COMPARISONS BETWEEN AGE GROUPS APPLIED ON THE
SCORESOF THE PICTURES SUB-TEST.................................................................................................... 207
TABLE 4.28 THE MEAN SCORES AND THEIR STANDARD DEVIATIONS OBTAINED BY THE SUBJECTS IN THE SUM OF
THEOBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-TESTS ..............................................................................................208
TABLE 4.29 THE EFFECT OF THE AGE VARIABLE ON THE SUM OF THE SCORES OF THE PICTURES AND OBJECTS SUB-
TESTS...................................................................................................................................................209
XI
TABLE 4.30 RESULTS OF THE TUKEY's HSD PAIR WISE COMPARISONS BETWEEN AGE GROUPS APPLIED ON THE
SUMOF THE SCORES OF THE OBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-TESTS.........................................................209
TABLE 4.31 STATISTICAL RESULTS OF CORRELATING THE OBJECTS WITH PICTURES SCORES AT EACH AGE GROUP..
............................................................................................................................................210
TABLE 4.32 SCORES ACHIEVED BY EVERY AGE GROUP IN THE OBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-TESTS ...............211
TABLE 4.33 RESULTS OF THE PARTIAL CORRELATION OF OBJECTS WITH PICTURES SCORES CONTROLLING FOR THE
AGEGROUP VARIABLE......................................................................................................................... 211
TABLE4.34 STRUCTURES TESTED BY THE OBJECTS' SENSITIVITY TO AGE....................................................213
TABLE 4.35 STRUCTURES TESTED BY THE PICTURES' SENSITIVITY TO THE AGE VARIABLE...........................213
TABLE 4.36 THE ORDER OF ACQUISITION OF THE STRUCTURES TESTED BY OBJECTS WHEN THE WHOLE GROUP'S
PERFORMANCEIS CONSIDERED............................................................................................................ 214
TABLE 4.37 THE ORDER OF ACQUISITION OF STRUCTURES TESTED BY PICTURES WHEN THE WHOLE GROUP'S
PERFORMANCEIS CONSIDERED............................................................................................................ 215
TABLE 4.38 THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO PASSED STRUCTURES TESTED BY OBJECTS AT EVERY AGE GROUP.
STRUCTURES ARE RANKED ACCORDING TO THEIR ACQUISITION ORDER WHEN EVERY AGE GROUP'S
PERFORMANCEIS CONSIDERED............................................................................................................ 216
TABLE 4.39 THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO PASSED STRUCTURES TESTED BY PICTURES AT EVERY AGE GROUP.
STRUCTURES ARE RANKED ACCORDING TO THEIR ACQUISITION ORDER WHEN EVERY AGE GROUP'S
PERFORMANCEIS CONSIDERED............................................................................................................ 216
TABLE 4.40 CHILDREN RESULTS IN EVERY ITEM TESTING FOR THE COMPREHENSION OF POSSESSIVES ........ .217
TABLE 4.41 CHILDREN RESULTS IN EVERY ITEM TESTING FOR THE COMPREHENSION OF POSSESSIVES ........ .218
TABLE 4.42 CHILDREN'S RESULTS IN EVERY ITEM TESTING FOR THE COMPREHENSION OF COMPLEX COMMANDS.
...........................................................................................................................................221
TABLE4.431TEM1.1 .................................................................................................................................... 225
TABLE4.44 ITEM 1.2.................................................................................................................................... 225
TABLE4.45 ITEM 1.3 ...................................................................................................................................225
TABLE4.46 ITEM 3.2 .................................................................................................................................... 225
TABLE4.47 ITEM 3.3 .................................................................................................................................... 226
TABLE4.48 ITEM 4.2 .................................................................................................................................... 226
TABLE4.49 ITEM 4.3 .................................................................................................................................... 226
TABLE4.50 ITEM 7.1 .................................................................................................................................... 227
TABLE4.51 ITEM7.2 .................................................................................................................................... 227
TABLE4.52 ITEM 16.1 .................................................................................................................................. 228
TABLE4.53 ITEM 16.2 .................................................................................................................................. 228
TABLE4.54 ITEM 16.3 .................................................................................................................................. 228
TABLE4.55 ITEM 20.1 ..................................................................................................................................228
TABLE4.56 ITEM 20.2..................................................................................................................................229
TABLE4.57 ITEM 12.1 ..................................................................................................................................230
TABLE4.58 ITEM 12.2 ..................................................................................................................................230
XII
TABLE 4.59 ITEM 12.3.230
TABLE4.60 ITEM 13.2 ..................................................................................................................................231
TABLE4.61 ITEM 13.3 ..................................................................................................................................231
TABLE4.62 ITEM 19.1 ..................................................................................................................................231
TABLE4.63 ITEM 19.2 ..................................................................................................................................231
TABLE4.64 ITEM 19.3 ..................................................................................................................................231
TABLE4.65 ITEM 6.1 ....................................................................................................................................233
TABLE4.66 ITEM 6.2....................................................................................................................................234
TABLE4.67 ITEM 6.3 ....................................................................................................................................234
TABLE4.68 ITEM 10.1 ..................................................................................................................................234
TABLE4.69 ITEM 10.2 ..................................................................................................................................234
TABLE4.70 ITEM 17.1 ..................................................................................................................................235
TABLE4.71 ITEM 17.2 ..................................................................................................................................235
TABLE4.72 ITEM 17.3 ..................................................................................................................................235
TABLE4.73 ITEM 5.1 ....................................................................................................................................236
TABLE4.74 ITEM 5.2 .................................................................................................................................... 236
TABLE4.75 ITEM 5.3 .................................................................................................................................... 237
TABLE4.76ITEMI1.1 ..................................................................................................................................237
TABLE4.77 ITEM 11.2 ..................................................................................................................................237
TABLE4.78 ITEM 11.3 ..................................................................................................................................237
TABLE4.79 ITEM 2.1 ....................................................................................................................................239
TABLE4.80 ITEM 2.2 ....................................................................................................................................239
TABLE4.81ITEM2.3 ....................................................................................................................................239
TABLE4.82 ITEM 8.1 ....................................................................................................................................240
TABLE4.83 ITEM 8.2....................................................................................................................................240
TABLE4.84 ITEM 8.3 ....................................................................................................................................240
TABLE4.85 ITEM 14.1 ..................................................................................................................................240
TABLE4.86 ITEM 14.2..................................................................................................................................241
TABLE4.87 ITEM 14.3 ..................................................................................................................................241
TABLE4.88 ITEM 15.1 ..................................................................................................................................241
TABLE4.89 ITEM 15.2 ..................................................................................................................................241
TABLE4.90 ITEM 15.3 ..................................................................................................................................242
TABLE4.91 ITEM9.1 ....................................................................................................................................243
TABLE4.92 ITEM 9.2....................................................................................................................................244
TABLE4.93 ITEM 9.3 ....................................................................................................................................244
TABLE4.94 ITEM 18.1 ..................................................................................................................................245
TABLE4.95 ITEM 18.2 ..................................................................................................................................245
TABLE4.96 ITEM 18.3 ..................................................................................................................................245
TABLE4.97 ITEM 21.1 ..................................................................................................................................245
XIII
TABLE 4.98 ITEM21.2 .246
TABLE4.99 ITEM 21.3 ..................................................................................................................................246
TABLE 4.100 STRUCTURES WHICH DEMONSTRATE AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN A GOOD PERFORMANCE IN BOTH THE
CDSSTUDY AI4D THE LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDY................................................................247
TABLE 4.101 STRUCTURES WHICH DEMONSTRATE AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN A POOR PERFORMANCE IN BOTH THE
CDSSTUDY AND THE LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDY................................................................247
TABLE 4.102 STRUCTURES WHICH DEMONSTRATE A WEAK AGREEMENT BETWEEN A POOR PERFORMANCE IN THE
CDS STUDY AND A GOOD ONE IN THE LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDY........................................247
TABLE 4.103 STRUCTURES WHICH DEMONSTRATE A WEAK AGREEMENT BETWEEN A GOOD PERFORMANCE IN THE
CDS STUDY AND A POOR ONE [N THE LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION STUDY .........................................248
TABLE 4.104 A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO PASSED THE TESTED PREPOSITIONS AND
THEIR FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE IN FATHERS' SPEECH IN THE CDS STUDY...................................248
TABLE 4.105 TEST RE-TEST RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS OF EVERY CHILD RE-TESTED...............................250
TABLE 4.106 TEST RE-TEST RELIABILITY OF THE STRUCTURES TESTED BY OBJECTS .....................................251
TABLE 4.107 TEST RE-TEST RELIABILITY OF THE STRUCTURES TESTED BY PICTURES ...................................252
TABLE 4.108 RESULTS OF THE INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF THE ITEMS USED IN THE OBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-
TESTSCOMPUTED FOR EVERY AGE GROUP...........................................................................................254
TABLE 4.109 RESULTS OF THE INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF THE ITEMS USED IN THE OBJECTS AND PICTURES SUB-
TESTSCOMPUTED FOR ALL SUBJECTS..................................................................................................254
TABLE 5.1 A COMPARISON BETWEEN HAMPSON & NELSON'S AND THE CURRENT STUDY IN RELATION TO
DISCOURSEFUNCTIONS PRESENT IN EVERY 100* UTTERANCES...........................................................260
TABLE5.2 STRUCTURES WHICH WERE PASSED BY ALMOST ALL CHILDREN..................................................277
TABLE5.35 STRUCTURES WHICH WERE FAILED BY MOST CHILDREN............................................................278
TABLE 5.4 PREPOSITIONS UNDER, BESIDE, BEHIND AND IN FRONT OF ORDERED ACCORDING TO THEIR AGE OF
ACQUISITION [N COMPREHENSION AS WAS FOUND IN THE PRESENT STUDY AND THREE OTHER STUDIES OF
ENGLISH- AND SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN....................................................................................286
TABLE 5.5 AN ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCES TESTING FOR THE COMPREHENSION OF COMPLEX COMMANDS.288
TABLE6.1 DIFFICULT STRUCTURES TESTED BY OBJECTS..............................................................................328
TABLE6.2 DIFFICULT STRUCTURES TESTED BY PICTURES............................................................................ 328
TABLE 7.1 THE AGE AT WHICH SAUDI CHILDREN ACQUIRE SOME OF THE TESTED STRUCTURE COMPARED TO THAT
OFENGLISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN.......................................................................................................339
XIV