Sana Tibi, Ph.D.

Dr. Sana Tibi joined the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Florida State University in August, 2016. She completed a Master’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Bath, England in 1989. She also completed two doctoral degrees; one in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Florida, U.S.A. in 1997, and another in Cognitive Studies of Reading, Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, Canada in 2016.  Prior to completing her 2nd PhD at Queen’s University, she held several academic and administrative positions. From 2002-2010, she served as an Associate Professor at the College of Education, United Arab Emirates University. She also worked as a consultant to several organizations (RTI, USAID, and World Bank) on Arabic literacy projects. Moreover, Dr. Tibi served as the Academic Advisor for UNESCO-DI. Her duties included identifying best practices in Arabic instruction for individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. She had also served as an expert advisor to the Ministry of Education in Dubai, UAE.  She has published numerous research articles on Arabic literacy. Her research interests involve (a) investigations of the cognitive and linguistic processes associated with reading in typically developing children and in children with dyslexia, and (b) development of Arabic reading assessment tools with psychometric properties.

Research Interests

Literacy, dyslexia, cognitive processes of reading

Teaching Interests

Literacy development and disorders, dyslexia, Reading assessment, Language development, Introduction to Communication Disorders

Publications & Research

Georgiou, G., Cardoso-Martins, C., Das, J., Falcón, A., Hosokawa, M., Inoue, T., Li, Y., Martinez, D., Padakannaya, P., Papadopoulos, T. C., Pollo, T., Salha, S. S., Samantaray, S., Shu, H., Tanji, T., Tibi, S., & Vieira, A. (2022). Cross-language contributions of rapid automatized naming to reading accuracy and fluency in young adults: Evidence from eight languages representing different writing systems. Journal of Cultural and Cognitive Science, 1-18. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s41809-021-00092-7

Tibi, S., Edwards, A. A., Kim, Y-S., Schatschneider, C., & Boudelaa, S. (2022). The contributions of letter features to Arabic letter knowledge for Arabic-speaking kindergarteners. Scientific Studies of Reading, 1-16. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2021.2016769

Rankin, Y., Tibi, S., Kennington, C., & Han, N. (2021). In-Game social interactions to facilitate ESL students' morphological awareness, language and literacy skills. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(279), 1-25. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1145/3474706

Layes, S., Tibi, S., Bouakkaz, Y., & Rebai, M. (2021). Phonological awareness deficits in children with dyslexia: The impact of working memory as a function of modality of test administration. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 1-14. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2021.1936712

Tibi, S., Fitton, L., & McIlraith, A. (2021). The development of a measure of orthographic knowledge in the Arabic language: A psychometric evaluation. Applied Psycholinguistics, 42(3), 739-762. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716421000035

Tibi, S., Edwards, A. A., Schatschneider, C., Lombardino, L. J., Kirby, J. R., & Salha, S. H. (2021). IRT analyses of Arabic letter knowledge in kindergarten. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 34, 791–816. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10086-6

Yujeong, P., Brownell, M. T., Reed, D. K., Tibi, S., & Lombardino, L. J. (2020). Exploring how initial response to instruction predicts morphology outcomes among students with decoding difficulties. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 655-670. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-19-00097

Fumero, K., & Tibi, S. (2020). The importance of morphological awareness in bilingual language and literacy skills: Clinical implications for speech-language pathologists. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(3), 572-588. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00027

Al Janaideh, R., Gottardo, A., Tibi, S., Paradis, J., & Chen, X. (2020). The role of word reading and oral language skills in reading comprehension in Syrian refugee children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 41(6), 1283-1304. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716420000284

Tibi, S., Edwards, A. A., Schatschneider, C., & Kirby, J. R. (2020). Predicting Arabic word reading: A cross-classified generalized random-effects analysis showing the critical role of morphology. Annals of Dyslexia, 70, 200-219. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-020-00193-y

Tibi, S., Tock, J. L., & Kirby, J. R. (2019). The development of a measure of root awareness to account for reading performance in the Arabic language: A development and validation study. Applied Psycholinguistics, 40(2), 303-322. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716418000589

Tibi, S., & Kirby, J. R. (2019). Reading in Arabic: How well does the standard model apply? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(4), 993-1014. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-18-0193

Wofford, M. C., & Tibi, S. (2018). A human right to literacy education: Implications for serving Syrian refugee children. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 182-190. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2017.1397746

Tibi, S., & Kirby, J. R. (2018). Investigating phonological awareness and naming speed as predictors of reading in Arabic. Scientific Studies of Reading, 22(1), 70-84. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2017.1340948

Tibi, S., & Kirby, J. R. (2017). Morphological awareness: Construct and predictive validity in Arabic. Applied Psycholinguistics, 38(5), 1019-1043. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716417000029

Tibi, S., Stall, P., Joshi, R. M., & Park, Y. (2016). Language knowledge and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers in the United Arab Emirates: An exploratory study. Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 74-96. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1207952.pdf

Refereed Book Chapters

Tibi, S., & Kirby, J. R. (2018). Morphology and reading in Arabic. In A. Chekayri (Ed.), Teaching of Reading in the Arabic Language: New Approaches (pp. 91-111). Al Akhawayn University Press. [in Arabic].

Tibi, S., & McLeod, L. (2014). The development of young children's Arabic language and literacy in the United Arab Emirates. In E. Saiegh-Haddad, & Joshi, M. (Eds.), Handbook of Arabic Literacy: Insights and perspectives (pp. 303-322). Springer.

Grants & Awards

School of Communication Science & Disorders Outstanding Faculty Research Award, Florida State University (2021).

MDS- Florida State University Council on Research and Creativity $24,960 (2020)

COFRS-Florida State University Council on Research and Creativity $14,000 (2018)

FYAP-Florida State University Council on Research and Creativity $20,000 (2017)

Education Graduate Expansion Award $4,000 (2012-2013)

Education Graduate Growth Award $5,000 (2012-2013)

Graduate Research Assistantship-Community Outreach Center, Queen’s University $6,000     (2013-2014)

Walter F. Light Graduate Fellowship, $10,000 (2012-2013)

Queen’s Graduate Award $4,000, (2013-2014)

Graduate Entrance Tuition Award $5,000 (2012-2013)

Graduate Dean’s Travel Grant for Doctoral Field Research $3,000 (2014-2015) Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) $30,000/2yr (2014 -2016)

Emirates Foundation-UAE: Read (Principal Investigator) $100,000 (2009-2013)

Emirates Foundation-UAE: Evaluating candidate teachers’ writing skills in English as a second language $30,000 (2010-2012)

United Arab Emirates University Scientific Research Council-UAE: The utility of assistive technology for people with special needs in the UAE $40,000 (2008-2010)

United Arab Emirates University Scientific Research Council-UAE: The impact of learning disability on children’s social competence $22,000 (2005-2007)

Netherlands Israel Research program: The development of an itinerant special education program in Palestine $50,000, (1998-2002)