Markers of Dyslexia in Adult Spanish-Speakers Who Report Severe Difficulty Learning English

The relationship between native-language reading ability and second-language (L2) learning was explored in a cohort of 60 adult Spanish-speakers learning English as a second language. The research questions centered on whether underlying nativelanguage deficits associated with dyslexia would be present in a subset of English Language Learners who reported severe difficulty learning English. Our participants were divided into two education groups (below and above12th grade). These two groups were classified into three groups based on self- and teacher- ratings of ease or difficulty in English learning ability: for the high-education group, Poor English Language Learners (PELL, N=7); Good English Language Learners (GELL, N=6); and English Language Learners with a range of average ratings (PEER=17); for the low-education group, PELL-Low education (PELL-Low ed., N=9) and PEER-Low education (PEER-Low ed., N=21). Three hypotheses were tested in Spanish: That, among the PELL group H1) phonology-spelling deficits would adversely influence decoding, phonological awareness and spelling to dictation; H2) orthographic-lexical deficits would adversely influence word recognition and sentence reading; and H3) longer latencies in the speed of visual-verbal associations would be evident in rapid automatized naming tasks, suggesting problems in rapid retrieval during online reading. Overall, testing supported each of the hypotheses posed. For H1, the PELL group took longer than the GELL group in decoding time. Trends toward longer decoding time and poor spelling were found when the PELL group was compared with the PEER group. Phonological awareness did not reveal differences among the groups. For H2, the PELL group took longer to identify correct word spellings than the GELL and the PEER groups. The PELL group took longer in reading sentences when compared with the GELL and PEER groups and was less accurate than the GELL group. For H3, the PELL group took longer in the rapid naming of letters when compared with the GELL and PEER groups. They were also less accurate than the GELL and PEER groups. The PELL group took longer in the rapid naming of colors than the GELL and PEER groups. They were less accurate in the rapid naming of objects when compared with the GELL and PEER groups. We conclude that previously unidentified native language deficits associated with dyslexia can be found in a subset of English Language Learners who report experiencing severe difficulty in their ability to learn English as a second language

First language grapheme-phoneme transparency effects in adult second-language learning

The Spanish writing system has consistent grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences (GPC), rendering it more transparent than English. We compared first-language (L1) orthographic transparency on how monolingual English- and Spanish-readers learned a novel writing system with a 1:1 (LT) and a 1:2 (LO) GPC. Our dependent variables were learning time, decoding, and vocabulary. We found a main effect for transparency. Participants learned LT faster and decoded more words in LT than in LO. L1 reading characteristics influenced learning. English-readers decoded more words in the LO-LT sequence and Spanish-readers decoded more words in the LT-LO sequence. Spanish-readers had more difficulty recalling the meaning of LO than LT words; for English-readers there was no difference between the two word types. Our findings indicate that readers’ L1 orthographic transparency or GPC type influences L2 decoding and the learning of L2 words from combined written-auditory teaching

Beyond Bilingualism: The Education of Immigrant Children

This is a review of the book (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers by María Cioè-Peña published by Multilingual Matters

Understanding parental engagement in Hispanic mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder: Application of a process-model of cultural competence

In this study the LEARN process-model of cultural competence was applied with three Hispanic immigrant mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two main arguments were investigated. 1) The influence of cultural beliefs on mothers’ engagement in their children’s education at home. 2) The inclusion of mothers’ cultural beliefs about disability in education plans for their children. This study was contextualized through a review of the literature on cultural competence and traditional cultural beliefs on understanding disability in many Hispanic immigrant families. Results showed that mothers’ parental beliefs about disability influenced how they engaged in their children’s education. Their engagement was evident through life participation as opposed to academic involvement. The three mothers in this study ascribed their children’s disability to cultural beliefs (mal de viento [wind sickness], susto [fright], and mal de ojo [hurtful gaze]). These cultural beliefs influenced how mothers engaged with their children and actively supported interventions for autism. Findings are discussed within frameworks of cultural competence, use of skilled dialogue, and ethnographic methodologies when working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families of children with special needs