The Production of Jordanian Arabic Passive Structures by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Aims. This study explores the acquisition of passive structures in Jordanian Arabic by ten children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It aims to identify the preferred passive structure among these children and investigate the underlying reasons for their preference. Methods. The research included a sample of 10 male children with ASD, with an average age of eleven, enrolled at the Tawasul Center for Autism in Amman, Jordan. The choice of Jordanian Arabic (JA) as the participants' native language facilitated effective communication, given that the researchers were also native speakers of JA. Participants were asked to narrate events depicted in five different pictures, and their responses, categorized into two passive structures (mafʕu:l and ʔnfaʕal), were recorded. Results. Based on the results of the statistical analysis, it was revealed that mafu:l passive structures was used more often than ʔnfaʕal structures. We argue that mafʕu:l passive structure is used more frequently by children with ASD because acquiring nouns is easier than acquiring inflected words due to the noun bias principle and entity-oriented principle. Additional factors include structural simplicity, frequency of encounters, relevance across various settings, and the variances in cognitive and linguistic processing capacities.