Abstract:
The present study explores the acquisition of the Arabic language as a second or third
foreign language. The study took place in the United States of America, and the participants are
English native speakers. Its aim is to investigate whether learning Spanish as a second language
would help L1 English speakers learning Arabic as a third language outperform L1 English
speakers, who are learning Arabic as a second language. Conversely, learning Arabic as a second
language with an English background might impede the process of acquisition, because of the
differences between the two languages. The issues have important pedagogical implications, but
the low number of participants and analyses require additional study.