The Relationship Between The Level Of Acculturation In American (english-Speaking) Culture And Language Proficiency In Arabic Among Adolescents

ABSTRACT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION IN AMERICAN (ENGLISH-SPEAKING) CULTURE AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN ARABIC AMONG ADOLESCENTS by AHMED ELSAYED August 2014 Advisor: Dr. Sharon Elliott Major: Curriculum and Instruction Degree: Doctor of Education The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between acculturation and Arabic language skills in Arab American youth in a community center setting. Seventy Arabic speaking students at the age of 13 through 17 in a Midwestern state were selected on a non-random sampling basis to participate in this study. Three main measures were used to collect data: (1) Student Demographic Survey, (2) student acculturation scale and (3) the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE Exam). Descriptive analyses were used to summarize, classify and simplify the data collected from the two surveys. Inferential analyses, on the other hand, were used to investigate two research hypotheses of this study. Two statistical tests were used: Pearson product moment correlations were used to determine if the level of acculturation was related to the students\u27 language proficiency in Arabic. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine if acculturation could be used to predict Arabic proficiency after controlling for age, gender, years of school in the United States and years of formal education in Arabic. The demographic variables were entered first in the multiple linear regression analysis to remove their effects on Arabic language proficiency. There were non-significant relationships between the variables. Explanations were provided regarding why the research hypotheses were not supported. Potential future research is also examined