Abstract
On the one hand, there is a growing literature touching on the identification and remediation of dyslexia in a monolingual population; on the other hand, very little research has been initiated with respect to individuals from bilingual and multilingual backgrounds. There is an increasing and widespread sensitivity and concern over the issues of literacy acquisition and assessment of reading disabilities among school children in multi-cultural and multilingual settings, in particular, those who learn English as a second or subsequent language. Inasmuch as the assessment under such conditions is indeed a great challenge, achieving it early enough may equal enhanced effects in terms of treatment and later reading success. Conversely, delaying diagnosis and intervention leads to under-identification and, in the long run, to disadvantage and cumulative educational failure, not to mention the fact that it proves cost-ineffective. In attempting diagnosis towards dyslexia in a multilingual and multi-cultural environment, first of all there is a need to differentiate between the phenomena that could be characterised as common, regular problems related to L2 acquisition and true warning signs of reading fiasco. In addition, it is vital to understand whether the above-mentioned signs prevail in L1 and L2 alike.
The present chapter is part of a larger study on the phenomenon of developmental dyslexia (Nijakowska 2010).
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Nijakowska, J. (2011). Multilingual/Multicultural Perspective on the Identification of Dyslexia. In: Arabski, J., Wojtaszek, A. (eds) Aspects of Culture in Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning. Second Language Learning and Teaching. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20201-8_8
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