From Second to Heritage Languages: Validating Form-Focused Instruction for Arabic Heritage Learners

Previous research shows that in heritage language development, accuracy lags fluency. This has prompted calls for the use of Form Focused Instruction in heritage language classrooms. This paper offers empirical evidence in support of Form Focused Instruction in Arabic as a heritage language addressing the questions (1) Is Form Focused Instruction more effective than Meaning-based instruction for heritage language learners of Arabic? (2) Is Isolated Form Focused Instruction specifically more effective than Meaning-based instruction in teaching adjective-noun agreement to heritage language learners? (3) Are there parallels between the development of the heritage language pedagogy and the established second language pedagogy? The methodology includes the development of a lesson plan incorporating Form Focused Instruction to teach noun-adjective agreement in Arabic as a heritage language and piloting it with 10 heritage high intermediate learners of Arabic. Findings show that (1) statistically significant accuracy gains are made when Form Focused Instruction is used instead of Meaning-based instruction, (2) Isolated Form Focused Instruction is especially more effective than Meaning-based instruction in teaching adjective-noun agreement in Arabic as a heritage language, (3) significant parallels between the emerging heritage language pedagogy and second language pedagogy are revealed. Key pedagogical implications are (1) both heritage language learners and second language learners progress in their fluency but struggle in their accuracy, (2) Form Focused Instruction is especially effective in teaching morphosyntactic features that are resistant to acquisition, and (3) Form Focused Instruction in second language research can significantly inform and advance heritage language pedagogy.