The Acquisition of Morpho-syntax as a Component of Literacy Development in Algeria: Case of First Grade Classroom in Meddah Kaddour Primary School (Ain Temouchent)

Abstract

The present research work highlights the impact of the diglossic linguistic situation in the Algerian community on the field of literacy development and second language acquisition of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). In the Algerian primary classrooms, teachers resort, in some cases, to Algerian Arabic (AA) when interacting with their pupils instead of using MSA, the language of instruction. Psychologists argue that this creates an intimate relationship between the teachers and their pupils which results in better teaching/ learning circumstances. Previous exposure to MSA is yet another reason which alleviates the transition between primary and secondary socialization. This is mainly achieved through parents’ individual efforts and participation in their children’s language development, by introducing them to some linguistic elements of MSA during domestic interactions; in addition to the benefits of media such as televised programs, animations, and storytelling. For the sake of accomplishing the above purposes, a forty mixed ability classroom containing first grade pupils from both genders was observed and subjected to an experiment. To obtain information about the pupils’ grammatical achievements, an analysis was conducted on their documents. Teachers too provided a substantial amount of information, which stems from their experience in the field of education; data was gathered by means of a questionnaire and a set of two interviews. Research findings suggest that parents are unaware of the importance of pre-school MSA exposure for their children. Literacy in Algeria is restricted to the two skills of reading and writing, which are more or less developed successfully by pupils. Relying on a model of acquisition for grammar teaching is likely to succeed, however results indicate a lack of resources; this entails teacher preparation and environment shaping.