Others hire a nanny who speaks English. ... from a different country, and does not speak Arabic takes ... Aims of Study. What role do foreign house maids play in.
Effect of House Maids on the Acquisition of Arabic by Saudi Young Children Prof. Reima Al-Jarf King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
X International Congress for the Study of Child Language. July 25-29, Berlin, Germany.
Background Almost every upper and middle class family (especially families with working mothers) in Saudi Arabia has a maid. Some affluent families even hire a nanny to raise the kids. Others hire a nanny who speaks English.
Maids and/or nannies are recruited from non-Arabic speaking countries such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, or Ethiopia. They are recruited for two-year terms, but once a maid’s term is over, another maid, who might be from a different country, and does not speak Arabic takes over.
The maid lives at home for 24 hours and over weekends and holidays. The maid does not only do the house chores, but takes care of the kids since they are babies.
Aims of Study What role do foreign house maids play in Saudi small children’s acquisition of Arabic (L1), What influence does the maid have on the children’s acquisition of Arabic pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. What factors contribute to the negative influence of the maid’s language over the children’ acquisition of L1.
Data Collection Subjects: 300 mothers with small children under the age of 6. Face to face interviews. Open-ended questions.
Working Status of Mothers 60% 40% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% working
none
Maids’ Educational Level 45%
43%
40% 35% 28%
30% 25% 20% 15%
12% 7%
10%
5%
5%
5% 0%
il
te a r il te a Re
ds
a
nd
w
e rit
s e m e El
y ar t n J
io n u
r
gh i h se
or i n
gh i h
c
ge ll e o
Maids’ Native Language 60% 54% 50% 40% 30% 18%
20%
11%
10%
10% 2%
3%
2%
ra bi c A
is h En gl
ia n In d
an Er ith re
Ta
ga l
og
n nk a Sr ila
In d
in e
si an
0%
Language Spoken by Maids Upon Arrival 87%
90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 3%
40%
10%
30% 20% 10% 0% Arabic
Speak English
others
Degree of Intelligibility a Year Later
45% 40% 35%
somewhat 44%
30%
a little 32%
25% 20% 15%
Unitellibigle 16%
10% 5% 0%
Very intelligible 8%
Proficiency Level in Arabic 2 Years Later
60%
Good 44%
50%
40%
Fair 32%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Excellent 8% Poor 16%
Characteristics of Maids’ Arabic Language Upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, many maids do not speak Arabic and few speak English. They pick up the Arabic language from the family among whom they live (by immersion). when they speak it, their Arabic is far from perfect. Those who speak English, speak it with a non-native accent.
Their Arabic is characterized by incorrect pronunciation & sentence structures and limited vocabulary knowledge. Pronunciation: difficulty producing certain
Arabic phonemes such as: ق، ش، ح،غ Grammar: produce incomplete sentences, reverse word order, plural formation, confuse masculine and feminine genders, gender agreement in verbs and adjectives, misuse subjective and objective pronoun forms.
Influence of Maids’ Language on Children’s L1 Acquisition A small percentage of the children imitate the maid when they first start to learn Arabic at age 2 and 3. Some speak 2 versions of Arabic: one with the maid and one with the parents and siblings. Some learn to speak the maid’s native language. They are unable to produce Arabic sounds correctly, make mistakes in plural formation and gender.
The maid’s influence depends on: how much time the child spends with the maid, how much time the mother spends with the child, whether the child has siblings, and play mates.
When the child goes to kindergarten, traces of foreign accent resulting from imitating the maid’s foreign Arabic accent and faulty use disappear, and the child is able to speak Arabic correctly and natively.
Conclusion In most cases, the maid has little influence over the child’s acquisition of Arabic, despite the fact that those children are raised by the foreign maid since they were babies and are emotionally attached to her.
