Italian children with dyslexia are also poor in reading English words, but accurate in reading English pseudowords

Abstract

It has been argued that children with dyslexia (DC) are poor at learning a foreign language (L2) and, in particular, reading foreign words. This assumption is so general that an Italian law (law 170, October, 2010) has established that DC may be completely exempted from foreign language learning and, in any case, should not be engaged in tuition via written material. However, evidence of L2 difficulties of DC is scarce and, in particular, absent for Italian children learning English. This absence of data is problematic, as it precludes information on the pattern of weaknesses and strengths, which could be found in DC. The present paper assessed these issues by administering an English word and pseudoword reading test to 23 DC and to 23 control children, matched for age, gender, schooling and IQ. The patterns of difficulties were examined individually for accuracy and speed, and the role of measures of native (L1) competence in L2 difficulties was also taken into account. Results confirmed that Italian DC are also poor in reading English words. However, they are accurate in reading pseudowords, suggesting that they have assimilated English pronunciation rules. Difficulties in L2 were, to some extent, but not completely, explained by difficulties in reading in L1.

Keywords: bilingualism; dyslexia; foreign language; reading.