Personal Information

 Assistant Professor

Department of  Foreign Languages and Literature

Faculty of Arts & Humanities

Contact Information

Phone: 0126400000 Ext. 26792

Email: halroqi@kau.edu.sa

Haifa Saud Alroqi

 Assistant Professor

Profile

Dr. Haifa Alroqi is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Saudi Arabia. She earned her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, where her research focused on the impact of screen use on children’s language development. Dr. Alroqi also holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Previously, Dr. Alroqi served as Vice Director of the Vision Realization Office at KAU. During this time, she pursued certifications in leadership and strategic management from the University of Oxford and Harvard University.

Dr. Alroqi’s research explores the effects of screen time on children, the role of the home literacy environment in child development, parent-child interactions and their impact on learning, and the importance of early reading experiences in shaping a child’s development. She has published extensively on topics such as screen time, reading, and the Home Literacy Environment (HLE).

Currently, Dr. Alroqi leads the research team at Faseeh, an initiative dedicated to screening over 10,000 Saudi children for language delays and providing free early intervention sessions and consultations. Her team’s research investigates the prevalence of late talking in Saudi Arabia and the risk factors associated with it, the cost of language delay and late diagnosis on families, parental knowledge and needs regarding language development, and childcare providers' (CPs) understanding of language development, their self-efficacy levels, and professional development needs.

Dr. Haifa Alroqi also serves as the Head of the Research Committee for the "Ynmo Tifli" initiative for early detection of developmental delays. This national initiative was launched by the Al Faisaliya Women Welfare Society and Ynmo Information Technology, in collaboration with Saudi Aramco. It aims to support the holistic developmental growth of children in Saudi Arabia—including cognitive, physical, and social aspects—with a focus on reaching and screening over 400,000 children at risk of developmental delays. The initiative operates within a strategic framework to enhance the quality of life for children and their families through digital tools and evidence-based interventions.

Through her work, Dr. Alroqi aims to enhance our understanding of early childhood development, raise awareness among caregivers about best practices, and provide decision-makers with valuable insights to support children’s learning, health, and overall development.

Education

  • 2005

    Bachelor degree from , King Abdulaziz University in Linguistics, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية

  • 2006

    Master degree from , University of New South Wales in Applied Linguistics, سدني, اســـتراليا

  • 2019

    Doctorate degree from , The University of Manchester, PhD in Linguistics (Child Language Development) , مانشستر, بريطانيا

Employment

  • 2008-2018

    Lecturer, Department of Modern Languages and Literature, King Abdulaziz University, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية

  • 2019-حاليا

    Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literature, King Abdulaziz University, جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية

  • 2020-2021

    , Assistant Director of the Strategic Center to Kingdom Vision Realization, King Abdulaziz University , جدة, المملكة العربية السعودية

  • 2020-2022

    , Member of Strategic Planning Team of The Fourth University Strategic Plan, King Abdulaziz University, , المملكة العربية السعودية

  • 2021-حاليا

    , Leader of the Research Team, Faseeh Initiative, , المملكة العربية السعودية

  • 2025-حاليا

    , Head of the Research Committee for the "Ynmo Tifli" initiative for early detection of developmental delays. (Saudi Aramco, Al Faisaliya Women Welfare Society, and Ynmo Information Technology), , المملكة العربية السعودية

Research Interests

First Language Acquisition, Child Language Development, Bilingualism, Multilingualism, Psycholinguistics, Screen media use and its association to language and cognitive development

Selected Publications


Alroqi, H., Alaslani, K., Almohammadi, A., & Bakoben, M. (2024). COVID-19 lockdown and early vocabulary development: Insights from Saudi households. Applied Developmental Science, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2024.2401331

Alroqi, H., Serratrice, L., Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2023). The association between screen media quantity, content, and context and language development. Journal of Child Language, 50(5), 1155–1183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000922000265

Alroqi, H., Serratrice, L., Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2022). The home literacy and media environment of Saudi toddlers. Journal of Children and Media, 16, 95-106
https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2021.1921819

Almohammadi, A., Alaslani, K., Alroqi, H., Aljahlan, Y., Alsulaiman, R., Albeeshi, A., Murad, A., & Alnemary, F. (2025). Late talking in young children in Saudi Arabia: Identifying key risk factors. First Language. https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237251313562

Bergmann, C., Dimitrova, N., Alaslani, K., Almohammadi, A., Alroqi, H., . . . Mani, N. (2022). Young children’s screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries. Scientific Reports – Nature, 12, 2015 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05840-5

Kartushina, N., Mani, N., Aktan-Erciyes, A., Alaslani, K., Aldrich, N. J., Almohammadi, A., Alroqi, H.,. . . Mayor, J. (2022). COVID-19 first lockdown as a window into language acquisition: associations between caregiver-child activities and vocabulary gains, Language Development Research, 2(1),1-36. https://doi.org/10.34842/abym-xv34

Alaslani, K., Almohammadi, A., Alroqi, H., Aljahlan, Y., Alsulaiman, R., Albeeshi, A., Mura A., & Alnemary, F. (2024). A national study on knowledge of child language development, self-efficacy, and the professional development of childcare providers in Saudi Arabia (Version 1) [Preprint]. Research Square. Manuscript submitted for publication in Discover Education. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5357149/v1

Manuscripts Under Review

Alroqi, H., Frank, M., Alaslani, K., Albeeshi, A., Almohammadi, A., Alsulaiman, R., Aljahl Y., Murad, A., & Alnemary, F. (2024). JACDI: WS-SF: A short-form version of the Saudi Arabic Communicative Development Inventory. Manuscript submitted for publication in The International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders.

Aljahlan, Y., Alsulaiman, R., Alroqi, H., Almohammadi, A., Alaslani, K., Albeeshi, A., & Alnemary, F. (2024). Economic cost of language disorders in childhood on their families. Manuscript submitted for publication in Journal of Communication Disorders.

Current Research Projects

Ynmo Tifli Initiative: Research supporting the developmental growth of over 400,000 children in Saudi Arabia (in collaboration with Saudi Aramco and the Al Faisaliya Women Welfare Society)

 

Faseeh Initiative: Research focused on the early detection of language delays in 10,000 children across Saudi Arabia (in collaboration with Ynmo and Al Muhaidib Social Foundation)

 

Language Development in Bilingual Children in the Gulf Region: Collaborative research with scholars from Zayed University


Conference Proceedings

Alnemary, F., Alroqi, H., Dashash, N., Aldakroury, W., Aljahlan, Y., Almohammadi, A., Faquih, N., Alsulaiman, R., Alaslani, K., Madani, D., Al Sabi, Y., Albeeshi, A., & Murad, A. (in press). Faseeh initiative: Redefining early language development, technology, and sustainability for lasting change in Saudi Arabia. In D. Berkouk, U. Chatterjee, T. Bouzir, & I. Dhaou (Eds.), Proceedings in Technology Transfer. https://link.springer.com/book/9789819785872

 
Conference Presentations & Research Engagements

Alaslani, K., Almohammadi, A., Alroqi, H., Alsulaiman, R., Aljahlan, Y., Albeeshi, A., Murad, A., & Alnemary, F. (2024, February). A national study on knowledge of child language development, self-efficacy, and the professional development of early childhood professionals in Saudi Arabia [Paper presentation]. The 6th Annual Emkan School Conference (ESC24), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Almohammadi, A., Alaslani, K., Alroqi, H., Aljahlan, Y., Alsulaiman, R., Albeeshi, A., Murad, A., & Alnemary, F. (2024, May). Language delay in young children in Saudi Arabia: Identifying key risk factors. [Paper presentation]. The 4th Conference of the Saudi Society of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (SSSPA), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Almohammadi, A., Alaslani, K., Alroqi, H., Aljahlan, Y., Alsulaiman, R., Albeeshi, A., Murad, A., & Alnemary, F. (2024, July). Language delay in young children in Saudi Arabia: Identifying key risk factors. [Paper presentation]. Child Language Symposium 2024, Newcastle, UK

Alnemary, F., Alroqi, H., Dashash, N., Aldakroury, W., Aljahlan, Y., Almohammadi, A., Faquih, N., Alsulaiman, R., Alaslani, K., Madani, D., Al Sabi, Y., Albeeshi, A., & Murad, A. (2024, May). Faseeh Initiative: Redefining Early Language Development, Technology and Sustainability for Lasting Change in Saudi Arabia. [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the Conference on Creativity, Technology, and Sustainability - CCTS 2024, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H., Serratrice, L., Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2023, November). The association between screen media quantity, content, and context and language development. [Poster presentation]. Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston, USA

Alroqi, H., Alaslani, K., Almohammadi, A., & Bakoben, M. (2021, November). COVID-19 lockdown and early vocabulary development: Insights from Saudi households. [Paper presentation]. 2nd International Symposium on Applied Linguistics Research, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Alroqi, H. (2020, October). Saudi Language and Literacy Webinar. [Speaker session]. Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H., Serratrice, L., Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2019, July). The association between screen media quantity, content, and context and language development. [Paper presentation], Child Language Symposium 2019, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Alroqi, H. (2019, April). 20th Annual Symposium on Communication Disorders. [Speaker session]. Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing (JISH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H., Serratrice, L., Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2018, May). The association between screen media quantity, content, and context and language development. [Paper presentation], The 10th European Congress of Speech and Language Therapy, Cascais, Portugal

Alroqi, H. (2018, April). World Autism Awareness Day 2018. [Speaker session]. Directorate of Special Education, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H. (2018, March). Manchester Forum in Linguistics. [Internal review]. The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

Alroqi, H. (2017, November). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention 2017. [Poster presentation]. Los Angeles, USA

Alroqi, H. (2017, September). Workshop on Early Literacy and Digital Media. [Poster presentation]. Paderborn University, Paderborn, Germany

Alroqi, H. (2017, April). Child and Adolescent Mental Health for All Conference. [Speaker session]. King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H. (2017, March). The 18th Annual Symposium on Communication Disorders. [Speaker session]. JISH, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H. (2016, March). My Research for My Community Exhibition. [Poster presentation]. Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Alroqi, H. (2016, February). Arabic Linguistic Forum 2020. [Reviewer]. University of Leeds, UK

Alroqi, H. (2015, July). Winner of Research Image Award, The Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase (PSRS 2015). [Award recognition]. The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

Alroqi, H. (2013, December). First International Linguistics in Arabia Conference. [Organizer]. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Peer Reviewer Contributions (Journals Served as Peer Reviewer)

BMC Pediatrics (Springer Nature)

BMC Public Health (Springer Nature)

Child: Care, Health & Development (Wiley)

Early Childhood Education Journal (Springer)

First Language (SAGE Publications)

Journal of Children and Media (Taylor & Francis)

Journal of Cognitive Science (Institute for Cognitive Science, Seoul National University)

Journal of Psycholinguistics Research (Springer)

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR) - American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

 Media Psychology (Taylor & Francis)

 Scientific Reports (Springer Nature)

 

Languages

Arabic

English (IELTS Score 8.5)

Scientific interests

Courses

Undergraduate and Graduate Level: Introduction to Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Child Language Development, Bilingualism, Research Methods, Supervised Readings in Linguistics

Areas of expertise

Media & Digital Parenting Studying how screen time and digital exposure affect child development
Research in Child & Family Development with a focus on early language acquisition and cognitive development
Strategic Leadership & Governance in education, non-profit, and developmental initiatives
Social Impact & Advocacy with initiatives benefiting over 400,000 children across Saudi Arabia
First Language Acquisition and Child Language Development in mono- and bilingual contexts
Bilingualism & Multilingualism in Gulf and international contexts
Psycholinguistics with emphasis on language disorders and development
Design & Leadership of National Research Initiatives including the Ynmo Tifli and Faseeh programs
Peer Reviewer for international journals including First Language, BMC Pediatrics, Child: Care, Health & Development, and more
Extensive International Research Presentations across the UK, US, Europe, and the Middle East
Published Author in top-tier journals such as Scientific Reports – Nature, Journal of Child Language, Applied Developmental Science