Improving Language and Cognition Through Storytelling in Standard and Spoken Arabic: An Intervention Study

Arabic-speaking children develop language and literacy within a diglossic context, where everyday spoken language differs from the Standard Arabic used in books and educational settings. This linguistic gap may influence early language-learning experiences. The present study examined whether interactive book reading supports linguistic and cognitive development among Arabic-speaking kindergartners and whether outcomes differ according to the language used during instruction. Participants were 116 Arabic-speaking kindergarten children from northern Israel. Children were assessed before and after a 10-week intervention on listening comprehension, phonemic awareness, morphological awareness, and verbal working memory. One group participated in interactive book reading conducted in Standard Arabic, while a comparison group received the same program in Spoken Arabic. The two conditions followed the same pedagogical protocol and differed primarily in the language variety used during reading and discussion. Results showed no significant group differences at pretest. Following the intervention, both groups demonstrated significant improvements across all measured domains; however, gains were consistently greater for children exposed to Standard Arabic. These findings suggest that structured oral exposure to Standard Arabic can enhance language development and language-dependent memory performance despite limited prior exposure. The study underscores the educational value of interactive book reading in diglossic early childhood contexts.