Supporting English as a Foreign Language and L1 Language Skills Among Arabic Students from Low Socio-economic Status: An Exploratory Study

Abstract Arabic-speaking students in Israel lag behind Hebrew-speaking counterparts in multiple academic measures, including English as a foreign language (EFL). Low socio-economic status, poor teacher preparation, and textbooks that do not reflect Arab society and culture negatively impact academic outcomes. The present study examined the possible effects of a 10-week, highly structured culturally adapted English oral language program on EFL among 6th grade pupils from low socio-economic status areas. Seventy-two pupils (age range: 11–12 years) were divided into experimental (n = 42), participating in oral intervention program conducted by trained EFL teachers, and control groups. Pre- and post- intervention data collection used EFL and Arabic tasks tapping into linguistic knowledge: morphological awareness, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and oral and written narrative abilities. Our results yielded significant improvements in English written narrative output but not on EFL oral narrative measures, as well as showed less oral language loses by experimental group than the controls. In addition, the experimental group showed post-intervention improvements in L1 reading comprehension, suggesting reverse cross-linguistic transfer. These findings suggest the importance of additional resources in closing the gap in EFL performance among Arabic-speaking students.