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Inclusion in language education (07/04)
Negative conceptualization of a learner because of a learning disorder - > the first barrier
Towards inclusive language education
- Learner : attention on the person who is learning, instead of on the social role that they adopt at school (a student) and include the informal environments in which they are immersed, and which contribute to their personal growth.
- Language educator : educational figures that promote language learning, which include not only teachers, but also specialised professionals that assist struggling learners in other contexts, such as extra-curricular tutors.
- L1 : learner’s native languages.
- L≠1 : This abbreviation represents all the other languages that the learner knows, such as foreign, second, or classical languages.
Learner
Understanding a learner’s difficulty:
- Caused by learner’s bad attitude - > categorial frameworks
- Linked to previous disorder - > other frameworks opened (diagnosis …)
- theoretical models that focus their attention not only on the learner (and thereby giving us a list of “problems”), but that also on the context in which they find themselves that affects their performance. From this perspective:
The ICF-CY Model
International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (1980); ICF: International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. ( 2001 , WHO), ICF-CY ( 2007 ): Developed for professionals who work with children and adolescents in clinical, educational, and social contexts. Generally, the ICF- CY represents a conceptual shift from the bio-medical model of disability to the bio- psycho-social model.
- Biomedical view: disabilities are biological deficits, internal to the person as their problems and the intervention aims to adapt the person to the environment
- Biopsychosocial view (world health organization): disability as a non-optimal interaction among variables, focus on how the person functions in different environments. The mismatch the characteristics and the environment. Person-environment reciprocal adaptations, thus, we work on both. The aim of the ICF-CY is to offer a model that can describe a person’s health in relation to the social environments in which they live (family, school, work, etc.), and that can outline any potential difficulties that an individual may face in these environments. General wellbeing of our learners - > depends on the interaction between their physical condition and contextual.
- body : structure (the organs) and/or its functions (simply put, their mental capacities) are intact and functioning (eg. verbal communication)
- how the learners’ physical conditions influence their personal activities: how they comprehend and use language and other codes, deal with tasks at school, interact etc.
- how the learners’ characteristics and potential difficulties can affect their social participation in that environment: for example, could feel excluded.
- contextual factors linked to either certain attitudes that they have developed, or to the classroom environment (both physical and methodological factors). ➢ ICF was not created with specifically language teaching in mind, it can help us to broaden our horizons as regards personal difficulties, collocating them in a wider context that takes into account the various internal and external factors ❖ Learners are always on context and cannot be separated from the environment (social, private, educational) in which they operate.
Language teaching accessibility theory
Framework of reference for language educators for redesigning learning environments to make them more accessible and inform the creation of an inclusive learning environment in mainstream classes, by applying a bio-psycho-social prospective to language teaching. The aim is to promote reflection on everyday teaching practices and the potential obstacles that they can present, in order to develop ways of either avoiding or removing these barriers. Any language comes about in a series of contexts within which a person interacts, often with the support of adults that exercise a tutorial role (fundamental in formal context). A learner’s difficulties with language learning must always be interpreted as a suboptimal blend of personal and environmental variables.
Language in our school can be the substance of learning or the medium of learning.
Education
The very idea of language education is not just teaching language but also take care of linguistic skills through the whole curriculum. In communication between educators and learners, language plays an essential role, so that when it is absent, we have to search for alternative forms of communication, which often only partly make up for this (eg. Augmentative and Alternative Communication). We language not only to communicate with our students, but also to transmit knowledge and encourage their learning process. All education takes place through the medium of language (Halliday, 1999) Language education: 1) language as a subject on its own right, 2) language as the medium for learning, or the instrument that allows us access to disciplinary content in order to better our competences. Going back to Halliday’s research, we can say that language education on a practical level translates into actions that promote four types of learning. Through - > academic writing/ note taking, about - > Linguistics, learning to learn -
learning strategies Wider than language education. In the handout the curriculum does not entail the concept of language education and reading comprehension strategies might be an issue or that of learning through language. Inclusive language education obstacles
- Only the learning language side of language education is fostered
- Language is presented as a disembodied entity: Language presented as separated grammar.
- A common conception of language proficiency is missing
Proficiency
The linguistic profile needs to be appreciated, not only grammatical correctness. According toto the CEFR:
- linguistic competence (lexical, grammatical, pragmatic etc.);
- existential competence , or knowing how to situate oneself in a communicative situation, understanding the rules and activating the soft skills necessary for interacting with a partner (empathy, intercultural awareness etc.);
- strategic competence , or knowing how to deal with potential obstacles that can arise in communication, through the recognition, activation and evaluation of strategies.
Learning a language: Constants and Variables (08/04)
Language learning constants Innatist theories : hypothesise that the “constant” of language learning is the existence of a specific mechanism (Language Acquisition Device) that allows children to acquire their L1’s syntactic structure and grammatical rules on the basis of the input received from adults. The mind contains the principles of Universal Grammar that guide children in the acquisition of the specific language to which they are exposed. Environmentalist theories : importance of context in language learning, high esteem on the tutorial role of adults, who act as expert communication partners that facilitate and support language comprehension and use. The most important facilitation is offered by expert partners. Cannot fully explain the process of language learning: as an example, the way that adults adapt their speech for children does not seem to be so important in L1 acquisition, but these adaptations can play a larger role in L≠1 acquisition. Cognitive-functional theories: consider language development within the wider context of a child’s cognitive development; learning a language is a particular type of learning that is realised through those general mechanisms that rule the functioning of our mind. Research in this area does not postulate the existence of an acquisition device specific only to language. Much attention in this area has been given to the way the mind processes and analyses linguistic input, and the processes of comprehension and internalisation. Crucial role of learners and their cognitive functions and of the environment and the frequent, comprehensible input that it provides. Value of language as a tool for communication and personal development. Attempts to consider both constants and variables of learning. The Language Learning Cycle Research on language process: way of elaboration of input for comprehension, internalisation and re-use. Attention to L≠1 learning.
- The Language Learning Cycle synthesises the cognitive processes which lead to the acquisition of a linguistic construction.
Executive functions : mental skills that help manage attention, memory, planning, and self-control—essential for effective learning. In the language learning circle:
- Working memory: Holds and manipulates new vocabulary or grammar while using or practicing it.
- Cognitive flexibility: Allows learners to switch between languages or adapt to new linguistic rules.
- Inhibitory control: Helps suppress interference from a dominant language (especially in bilinguals) or irrelevant distractions.
- Planning & organization: Supports setting goals, structuring learning, and applying language strategies. Executive functions guide and regulate how language is processed, used, and learned over time. Without them, it’s harder to focus, remember, or apply new language skills effectively. The cognitive substrate of the Language Learning Cycle ICF framework: human beings are able to learn languages because they have the appropriate body structures (sensory organs - > vision and hearing - > capture the “physical traces” of a verbal message - > mentally process - > vocal apparatus to produce sound). Age factor: small children - > incomplete development of their vocal apparatus, elderly - > hearing loss Body functions : help us to focus on, internalise and re-use linguistic constructions. Executive functions ; set of cognitive abilities that make up a supervisory system. Allow us to face up to novel and complex tasks (such as learning a language), set goals and the strategies required to achieve them, direct our efforts, and adapt the way we act to situations. The ‘operating system’ in the Language Learning Cycle is made up of 1) cold functions: control intentional and directed cognitive processes and 2) hot functions: management of the emotive sphere of language learning. Emotional competence is placed at the centre to underline its pervasive presence in all stages of learning. Focusing stage : attentional- inhibitory control and processing efficiency. Communicative exchanges are swift and aimed towards immediately ‘understanding and being understood’ and often accompanied by other codes (gestures, gaze), in order to facilitate this exchange of meaning. This ensures efficiency of immediate communication, but can hinder focusing of attention towards formal aspects of the input. Internalisation stage : all of the executive functions are required, but essential are 1) cognitive flexibility: contributes towards the ‘malleability’ of the learner’s linguistic system, which is a network of linguistic constructions that is modified according to the input receive and 2) strategic control: when the learner struggles to internalise certain aspects and thus needs to activate effective memorisation strategies. Use stage : requires the activation of all of the executive functions. Variables linked to modes of communication (written or oral, real-time or pre-planned) can favour or inhibit some executive functions.
The learner Neurodiversity Increased number of clinically recognised deficits due to more accurate diagnostic tools
- risks of labelling all learners’ atypical characteristics as ‘abnormal’ Introduction of the neurodiversity paradigm (90s): highlights the neurological uniqueness of each member of the human race. Springboard for the creation of an approach to learning and disability that suggests that ‘abnormalities’ should be interpreted as individual differences in the brain. 3 crucial assumptions:
- The metaphor of the brain as a computer is not appropriate , as it does not consider the brain’s capacity for reorganisation, compensation and adjustment in reaction to environmental stimuli. It is instead an ecosystem made up of individual components, that are interacting, integrating, and compensating for each other.
- The notions of ability and disability are not universal , they are instead culture specific. Dyslexia, is only considered a deficit in those cultures where literacy is important. The notion of ‘exceptionally gifted children’ is also an interesting one, as these learners tend to manifest above-average intelligence, high level logical- mathematical skills and divergent thinking, but at the same time exhibit extreme emotional sensitivity and can easily become bored or distracted. We can see how the ability/disability paradigm is culturally determined.
- Academic and social success is the result of a symbiotic relationship between brain and environment , such as when the brain is able to adjust to environmental stimuli, and the environment adapts to each brain’s uniqueness. If this does not occur, the result for the learner can be social inadaptation and disadvantage. We can consider this more the result of a society’s inability to accept and foster neurodiversity,ù. Foreign language anxiety Motivation : dynamic internal drive not deriving from specific external events. Mood : Persisting feelings not deriving from specific external events. There are internal variables (also physical like cold) leading to moods. Emotions : Complex temporary responses connected to specific events, leading to physiological arousal (like blushing) or cognitive evaluation because we have awareness of the emotion and evaluate the situation. Anxiety : is emotion characterized by feeling of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure. People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. Generally speaking, anxiety is associated with feelings of unease, mistrust in one’s abilities and fear that a person feels in a given set of circumstances. Definition: “A distinct complex of self-perceptions, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to classroom language learning arising from the uniqueness of the language learning process” (Horwitz, 1986) Research in the 1960s: facilitating (a positive factor that encourages people towards success, “tension”) or debilitating (a negative factor that hinders a person in success).
Language aptitude tests (1960s) were designed during the grammar-translation and audio-lingual method era; test scores matched learning outcomes under those methods. Communicative methods later raised doubts about the relevance of those tested skills. Some studies say tested abilities predict communicative success; others emphasize the role of working memory. Skehan’s (1989) Aptitude Model – 3 Components :
- Phonetic coding ability → noticing input (focus stage in Language Learning Cycle).
- Language analytic ability → identifying & organizing structures (internalisation stage).
- Memory → recalling info to produce output (use stage). Learners may excel in some components but not all. Teaching methods and input exposure are crucial for success. Aptitude isn't strongly linked to social or cognitive traits, but to willpower and persistence with repetitive or tedious tasks. The context L1 is learned naturally from birth through daily interaction; foreign languages are usually learned later, in formal, guided contexts like school. Spontaneous learning: Begins in childhood with optimal biological and contextual conditions (family, emotion-rich interactions, frequent exposure). Motivation is internal and becomes formal at school → requires new skills (e.g., summarizing, note-taking), often not explicitly taught. L1 = medium of instruction, not just a subject. Social participation should be high, but learners with difficulties can be marginalized. Foreign Language Learning : Often begins at school, but learners can start at any age. Motivation is often external. Learning is teacher-guided, influenced by methods, materials, and evaluation practices. Opportunities to use the language are limited but increasing. Access to opportunities varies by socio-economic status. Communicative approaches are preferred, but large classes push focus toward writing. Grammar-translation influence still lingers in textbooks. Two often neglected areas: Phonological & orthographic skills (important early on). Mediation activities (e.g., summarizing, diagram-making), crucial for CLIL and real-world use. Key Insight : L1 is naturally and emotionally acquired in rich contexts; foreign languages are learned in more structured, often limited environments—both input and motivation play a major role. The language Linguistic characteristics of both L1 and L2 can influence the pace and ease of language learning. These factors interact with each learner’s background, experiences, and context, shaping their interlanguage. No language is inherently easy or hard— difficulty is relative. Learners bring their own linguistic background and cognitive tools to L2 learning. While linguistic variables can create obstacles,
these can be overcome with awareness, practice, and good teaching strategies— especially by developing phonological and orthographic awareness.
1. Pragmatics: Social meaning of expressions may differ. ( E.g., “How are you?” ≠ “Come stai?” – may not need a real answer.) Misunderstandings can occur. 2. Syntax: Word order (SVO, SOV, etc.) varies across languages. (“Francesca ama Paolo” → changing order changes meaning). Learners from languages like Latin (where case marks roles) or Japanese (SOV) face challenges adapting to new structures. 3. Morphology: Languages differ in how they build words (Italian: rich in inflection “case” = cas- + - e. Mandarin: morphemes are usually invariable.). Learners from morphologically simple L1s may struggle with inflection-rich L2s. 4. Prosody: Italian/Spanish = syllable-timed (equal stress). English = stress-timed (unstressed syllables reduced). Italian learners may struggle to perceive/reproduce English rhythm and reduced vowels. 5. Orthography: Transparent orthographies (e.g., Italian): clear sound-letter correspondence. Opaque orthographies (e.g., English, French): irregular spelling rules. Learners may mispronounce or misread based on expectations from L1.
The good language learner (09/04)
Defining the “good language learner” In school a “learner” inevitably becomes a “student”, assuming a social role closely linked to the expectations placed upon them by the environment. Good language students don’t make mistakes but good language learners make mistakes that they can work on and are conscious of them. Definition of a good language learner (since the 1970s): analysis of the profiles of people who seem to learn new languages with ease. The aim is to create some unequivocable “markers”. The definition of a clear and unmistakeable profile of a “successful” language learner still seems to be a long way off. The aspects common to all the various profiles are:
- Being uninhibited.
- Having well-defined personal learning goals.
- Having a good sense of intuition.
- Having trust in oneself.
- Having an intrinsic motivation for language learning.
- Being able to elaborate upon feedback received.
- Having a high tolerance for ambiguity.
- Being able to learn cooperatively.
- Being ready to take risks. In formal contexts it depends on the teacher and their own life experience, by the training they have undertaken and by the language teaching method that they themselves were exposed to as students. This last factor is the most influential for the idea of “language” and “language learning” that a person has as they enter adult life.
Good learner = expert learner Inexpert learner: use the same limited repertoire of strategies, without being able to adapt them to the requirements of a different context. This means that a strategy needs to be taught, specifically when it comes to learners with specific language needs where teaching the right strategies to tackle the situation. Focusing Stage : Learners face a challenging task using support tools (e.g., teacher, dictionary, online translator). They choose and apply the most suitable strategies (A). The goal is to decode linguistic and conceptual input from a communicative task. Learners use:
- Memory strategies – recall relevant info to complete the task.
- Affective strategies – manage anxiety
- Cognitive strategies – take notes, reason through material.
- Support tools – teacher, dictionary, textbook, translation services. → Requires metacognitive awareness to choose the right strategy. Internalisation Stage : Learners process and integrate the new language input into their linguistic system. Role: Craftsmen. The goal is to restructure and integrate the new language into their system. Learners use:
- Compensatory strategies – infer meaning from context, guess intelligently.
- Social strategies – ask for help, clarification, or confirmation.
- Cognitive strategies – analyse, summarise, and reorganise input. → This is the “get your hands dirty” stage—active construction of interlanguage. Use Stage : Learners use the language, producing output. Role: Practitioners. The goal is to Produce, interact, or negotiate meaning with the new language. Learners use:
- Compensatory strategies – synonyms, paraphrasing, gestures for unknown words.
- Affective strategies – regulate anxiety during use.
- Social strategies – seek authentic interaction (e.g., native speakers).
- Cognitive strategies – apply knowledge in both formal and informal contexts. → Activities may start protected and gradually become more authentic. Feedback Stage : Learners receive feedback (B) , helping them evaluate performance and chosen strategy. Feedback affects motivation, self-esteem, and future learning goals. Role: Managers. The goal is to reflect on output and refine learning strategies for future tasks. Learners use metacognitive strategies to:
o Identify their learning style and needs. o Plan, organise, and monitor language tasks. o Evaluate task success and strategy effectiveness. → Feedback isn't passively received—learners manage it , integrate it into their learning profile, and prepare for the next learning cycle from a more advanced starting point. Over time, strategies become automatic, shifting from declarative to procedural memory. A good strategy user becomes self-regulating and learns independently. Language Proficiency vs. Language Learning Proficiency : High exposure ≠ strong learning skills. A learner with fewer opportunities but strong strategy training may be more proficient at learning languages. Product ≠ process Experienced learner : practices often, but may lack strategy awareness. Expert learner : consciously reflects on learning, uses strategies effectively, and is autonomous. Effective teaching environments promote strategy use and self- regulation. Being a Good Strategy User : about knowing when and how to use them. Requires synergy between learner and learning context, plus reflection and feedback to fine- tune strategy use.
Language learning difficulties and disorders (14/04)
Difficulty: elements that can represent obstacles to a learner’s educational career, temporary or permanent, result of individual factors (such as anxiety or demotivation) or, more likely, of contextual factors (traumatic events, socio-cultural disadvantage). Disorders : neurobiological origin and are thus attributable to specific personal factors rather than environmental factors. They can be at the root of below-average performance in certain, specific areas (reading, writing, text comprehension etc.). From a bio-psycho-social perspective, anyone can face language learning difficulties, which arise from a non-optimal interaction between individual and environmental factors. A disorder is only one aspect of a learner's identity and contributes to a unique learning profile (zoom in) when combined with other factors. The module is grounded in inclusive teaching, which promotes adaptable professional skills (like observation, planning, and monitoring) that are useful across all learning contexts, not just clinical ones. Educators must not only identify “problematic” traits but also focus on the communicative needs (zoom out) that stem from them. The unit starts with common communicative needs of all learners, then addresses how these become more specific in cases involving disorders—laying the foundation for the clinical focus introduced later. Human needs and communication Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Education (1952)
- Social pragmatic communication disorder → issues with interpreting social cues.
- Dyslexia → difficulty with reading and understanding written texts, which affects communication in a literate society. While these learners might not require alternative communication systems, their ability to meet communication needs is still at risk. The educator’s role is to identify and respond to these diverse challenges. The term Complex Communication Needs can be seen as an umbrella :
- Some learners are affected across all communication forms.
- Others, primarily in the verbal domain, have Specific Language Needs (SLNs)—a concept that will be explored next. Specific language needs through the lens of the ICF-CY The notion of Specific Language Needs refers to those students with SENs that manifest developmental differences in cognitive-linguistic processing that primarily affect the development of communicative competence in L1 and consequently in L≠1, to the extent that external intervention is needed to support the process of language education both in the classroom and during individual study (Daloiso, 2013). Since all education occurs through the medium of language the developmental differences with the largest impact are those that affect the mental elaboration of language. These are described as specific , in order to underline their peculiarity. The concept of SLNs is also to be intended from a bio-psycho-social perspective : SLNs are to be understood as a specific obstacle in the language learning process that emerges from a non-optimal interaction between the characteristics of some types of learners (including any disorders) and the characteristics of the environment in which they find themselves in. Language disorders Language difficulties are common during child development and can sometimes be linked to cognitive or physical limitations. A language disorder is diagnosed based on: 1) significantly low language test scores,
- normal non-verbal intelligence, 3) hearing or neurological deficits. This led to the term Specific Language Impairment (SLI), but the term is avoided here because: 1) it underplays the cognitive aspects of language disorders, 2) diagnostic criteria are controversial in clinical practice, 3) they don't account for the wide variability of language disorders, 4) borderline cases that still affect daily life are often excluded. Linguistic and Cognitive Functioning Children with language disorders may show varying levels of language proficiency. Affected components (either isolated or interconnected) include: Phonology :
- Difficulties are linked to mental representation of sounds , not hearing issues.
- Common signs: fewer consonants/syllables, sound assimilation, syllable omissions.
- Often resolves by age 6 and may not lead to later literacy issues. Expression :
- Problems with oral production , like pauses, slow vocabulary recall, and grammar errors.
- Errors typically involve unstressed or less perceptually salient elements. Reception :
- Difficulty understanding complex syntactic structures , such as passive or relative clauses. Pragmatics :
- Trouble using language appropriately in social contexts.
- May occur: As part of broader language or autism spectrum disorders, or independently (as Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder ), without repetitive behaviors. Cognitive Impacts (ICF Model) Language disorders = limitations in body and executive functions. Children with phonological, expressive, or receptive issues often show: slower attention orientation, slower responses to linguistic/visual stimuli weaker working memory and information processing. Pragmatic disorders :
- Linked more to limited cognitive flexibility than memory or processing.
- Difficulty adjusting language based on the listener or context. Language Disorders & the Learning Cycle Focusing Stage :
- Learners with limited attention or processing efficiency struggle to convert input into intake.
- They may grasp overall meaning (thanks to context), but not finer grammatical details.
- This leads to errors in phonology, vocabulary, and syntax when trying to reuse language.
- The learning environment impact on it because of the artificial activities and the input or its amount maybe were not adequate Internalisation Stage :
- Learners with pragmatic disorders (e.g., social pragmatic communication disorder) may have strong language knowledge, but lack contextual adaptability.
- Their interlanguage is rigid and disconnected from social meaning.
- Cognitive inflexibility hinders their ability to consider context, speaker intent, or background knowledge. Common issues in social pragmatic communication disorder :
- Difficulty understanding irony and metaphor.
- Trouble combining verbal and non-verbal cues (intonation, gestures).
- Use of repetitive or prefabricated phrases , often contextually inappropriate.
- Pronoun and deixis confusion (e.g., mixing up “you” and “I”). Personal & Environmental Factors (ICF-CY) Personal factors :
➢ Bilinguals with language disorders possess a capacity for attentional- inhibitory control that is on the same level as their average monolingual peers, but inferior to bilingual pers without disorders Comorbidity between language disorders and dyslexia => language disorders not aggravated by bilingualism.
- Siegel (1995, 2002): bilingualism can be an advantage for individuals with dyslexia. Research with Portuguese-, Arabic-, and Italian-speaking children showed => bilingual dyslexic learners performed better in English reading, spelling, and phonological skills than monolingual dyslexics. Exposure to another language may strengthen overall language skills. Canadian educational context: strong literacy support in both L1 and L2. Quality of instruction is crucial for bilingual advantages to emerge. Children with dyslexia should be encouraged to learn additional languages, provided that individual needs are addressed. Do these language disorders change according to the language that is spoken? Until the late 1980s, studies were based on English-speaking children. Newer research on Romance languages shows that the language's characteristics influence the types of errors. English-speaking children : English has limited morphology and rigid word order. Errors mainly involve omission of: Temporal markers (-s, - ed), Auxiliary verbs (be, do), Articles and conjunctions. Italian-speaking children : Rich morphology leads to different errors. Tend to substitute articles and pronouns incorrectly (e.g., lo , gli instead of il , i ). Omit auxiliaries in past perfect tense. Incorrect use of present tense endings (e.g., mangia instead of mangiano ). Spanish-speaking children : Similar to Italian learners. More substitution of morphosyntactic elements rather than omission. Better handling of present tense endings, including third person plural. Likely due to greater perceptive salience of unstressed elements. French-speaking children : Intermediate profile between English and Italian. Avoid subject-auxiliary inversion (like English). Make clitic pronoun errors (like Italian). Reflects French’s mix of Romance morphology and English-like word order. Opaque languages (e.g., English): Complex phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Greater reading/spelling/phonological difficulties. Transparent languages (e.g., Italian, Spanish): Simpler phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Dyslexic readers may read more accurately but more slowly and with spelling difficulties.
Brunswick’s Findings :
- All dyslexics struggle with sound-letter matching.
- Dyslexics in deep orthographies (like English) have slower, more impaired reading.
- Dyslexics in shallow orthographies (like Italian) read slowly but accurately, with effortful phonological processing. Language and learning disorders have a common neurobiological basis, but their manifestations are influenced by the properties of the spoken language. Teaching approaches should account for the specific challenges posed by each language. How are these disorders identified In second language learners? Second language learners = children with migratory backgrounds who speak a minority L1 and are immersed in a dominant L2 culture. Complex Diagnostic Process :
- No single test can diagnose dyslexia or language disorders.
- Requires multiple stages: Medical history analysis, Neurological exam (to rule out sensory deficits), Intelligence testing (verbal and non-verbal IQ), Assessment of language and learning skills (reading, writing, math, comprehension), Evaluation of working memory, attention, visual-motor skills, emotional factors. Evaluation Tools and Procedures Availability of Diagnostic Tests : Tests mainly exist for widely spoken languages. Simply translating tests is inadequate; tests must be calibrated to each language’s properties. Challenges with Bilinguals : Language development differs. Results of tests (especially in L2) must be interpreted carefully. Common Practice :
- Tests are often administered in the learner’s L2 due to lack of L1 tools.
- Risk of false positives because tests are designed for native speakers.
- Comprehension difficulties during testing are common. Ideal Evaluation :
- Preferably conducted in L1 if enough exposure exists.
- Rarely possible due to the wide variety of native languages.
- Alternative dynamic assessments are being developed. Focus on Decoding and Phonological Awareness : Decoding :
- Critical skill for dyslexia diagnosis.
- Pseudoword reading (e.g., shum , laip ) tests short-term phonological memory.
- However, familiarity with L2 orthography can skew results.
