The production effect in children learning modern standard Arabic vocabulary as an additional language

This PhD thesis examines the 'production effect' (PE), a learning principle suggesting that actively producing information, such as speaking or writing it, leads to better retention than passively receiving it. While this effect is well-documented in adults learning new languages, its impact on children acquiring vocabulary as a second language is less understood. This research specifically investigates how the production effect influences children's learning of new words in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The study involved several experiments with bilingual children. A pilot study with 72 children aged 4-11 explored the PE by comparing learning outcomes from listening-only versus listening-and-repeating conditions. This initial phase helped refine the research design by highlighting the importance of factors like age and language background. Subsequent experiments focused on specific age groups (6-year-olds and 8-year-olds) and included different production methods, such as writing. The findings suggest that while repeating words can aid learning, actively writing them down has a more significant positive impact on long-term vocabulary retention in children learning MSA.