Reading Impairment in Dual Language Children

According to Paradis, Genesse, and Crago  in the book Dual Language Development and Disorders, reading impairment is a learning disability that presents itself through the child having a great difficulty in learning to read despite normal intelligence and perceptual abilities (vision, hearing), adequate learning opportunities, and the absence of psychological problems. This is pretty common as it affects from 5-20% of the school-age population in the United States according to Paradis, Genesse, and Crago (2011). Teachers tend to refer more boys than girls for clinical assessment because boys tend to be more disruptive. Their disruptive behaviors are often misattributed to reading difficulties. According to Paradis, Genesse, and Crago (2011) here are some common behavioral manifestations of reading impairment:

· Slow progress in learning to read words

· Reliance on context (including pictures) to figure out the meaning of words or text

· Poor ability to relate what is read to one's own experience

· Related problems in spelling and writing

· Poor knowledge of the sounds and names of the letters of the alphabet

If a child is showing some difficulties in learning to read should they discontinue learning two languages?

Paradis, Genesse, and Crago's (2011) answer is no based on research showing that a child continuing in a second language/bilingual program does not result in negative academic consequences. Research suggests that many aspects of reading skills transfer easily from one language to another, and that learning to read in two languages odes not require learning all aspects of reading twice. According to Paradis, Genesse, and Crago (2011), children typically have the most difficulty with phonics and letter-sound correspondence. These two aspects of learning to read and write show the most consistent transfer from one language to another.

How do you identify a reading impairment?

According to Paradis, Genesse, and Crago (2011), it is really complex. It cannot be done on the basis of a single test administered at one point in time. It is really important for a reading specialist to rule out other factors that a struggling dual language learner is experiencing. Other factors could be inadequate prior reading instruction or visual problems, inadequate opportunity to learn the target language, sociocultural factors, visual or sensorimotor problems, serious intellectual impairment, and trauma

.

Resources:

Paradis, J., Genesse, F., & Crago, M.B. (2011). Dual language development & disorders: A handbook on bilingualism & second language learning 2nd edition. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.