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

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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.

The Importance of Language Development in Your Child's Life

A lot of language development happens when children are preschool age. It is important for young children to practice and eventually master their native language for the following three reasons. Speaking and listening are foundational skills for when child start to read and write. Secondly, speaking and listening help to make children smarter. And, speaking and listening are academic, social, and life skills that are highly valued in school and their world. This blog will help to break down different acts and aspects of language. It will investigate the research that has been done with bilingual students. It will explore some different atypical development and how those students can be taught in a different way. Finally it will look into literacy and give you some helpful ways to help your child become a skilled reader. Throughout the pages on the right you will also find multiple ways that you as the parent can help your child at home since you are their first teacher!

A guide to this blog:

If you are looking for a specific topic you can just click on the titles to the right. 

You are also able to learn specifically about language by starting here:
Expressive, Receptive, Meta-Linguistic Acts of Language

Or if you would like to learn more information about diverse abilities and needs you can click here:
Children with atypical speech

If you would like to learn more about children learing more than one language you can start here:

Children learning two languages

If you are interested in knowing more information about reading click here:
Reading

If you would like to know more about writing pleace click here:
Writing

And here are some Frequently Asked Questions.

References:

Resnick, L. B., Snow, C.E. (2009). Speaking and Listening for Preschool Through Third Grade. Washington D.C.: University of Pittsburgh and The National Center on Education and the Economy.