In a non-word repetition task, the participants are asked to repeat non-existent ‘words’ in their language. Since it involves non-words, the task is considered non-language-specific, which makes it appropriate for assessment of language learning abilities in a variety of languages, of monolinguals and bilinguals. In addition, it was found to be particularly valuable in identifying atypical language development, for example, specific language impairment (SLI), especially in bilingual children (Sharp & Gathercole, 2013; Saiegh-Haddad & Ghawi-Dakwar, 2017). According to the study of Lee, Kim & Yim (2013), there is a relationship between non-word repetition abilities and vocabulary skills in both monolingual and bilingual children. Studies have shown, that the ability of children to perform and correctly repeat the 'words' in non-word repetition tasks decreases as the number of syllables of the non-words increases (Lee, Kim & Yim, 2013; Saiegh-Haddad & Ghawi-Dakwar, 2017). In this study, the non-word repetition task was done to tap upon the phonological representation among young speakers in Arabic, and it includes monosyllabic words, disyllabic words, and multisyllabic words. To test the children, 56 different non-words were pronounced aloud to the children, and they were asked to immediately repeat them. The words were non-words, or "pseudo words", words that do not exist in the Arabic language but they sound like real Arabic words.
