Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand the characteristics of the language-related skills of bilingual children with specific learning disorders (SLD). The aim is achieved by analyzing language-related skills in a sample of bilingual (Italian plus another language) and Italian monolingual children, with and without SLD.Patients and methods: A total of 72 minors aged between 9 and 11 were recruited and divided into four groups: 18 Italian monolingual children with SLD, 18 bilingual children with SLD, 18 Italian monolingual children without SLD, and 18 bilingual children without SLD. Each child underwent tests to evaluate different aspects of language skills: lexical and grammar, metalanguage and executive functions.Results: With regard to lexical and grammatical skills, the conditions of SLD and bilingualism both impact naming in terms of total number of errors for words with low frequency of use, while the condition of SLD has an effect on semantic errors for words with low frequency of use. The condition of bilingualism impacts on the total errors for words with high frequency of use and on circumlocution-type errors for words with low frequency of use. There were significant effects of bilingualism and SLD on the metalinguistic test for understanding implicit meaning, and an impact of SLD on phonological awareness was also found.Conclusion: The results suggest that both SLD and bilingualism have an effect on some lexical skills, in particular for words with low frequency of use. Both conditions, bilingualism and SLD, seem to impact on metalinguistic abilities that depend on lexical knowledge. These findings reinforce the importance of improving understanding of the neuropsychological profile of bilingual children with SLD.
Highlights
In recent decades in Europe, due to an increase in the immigration rate, the number of bilingual children in schools has grown steadily
The aim of the current study is to investigate the characteristics of the language-related skills of a sample of bilingual (Italian and other language) and Italian native monolingual children with and without specific learning disorders (SLD), with a special focus on semantic-metalinguistic skills and linguistic measures of executive functions directly involved in the learning process
The present study builds on recent work conducted by our research group where we have shown that bilingual and monolingual children affected by SLD do not differ in cognitive level, measured using WISC-IV, a clinical tool administered individually to assess the cognitive abilities of children aged between 6 years 0 months and 16 years 11 months (Riva et al, 2017)
Summary
In recent decades in Europe, due to an increase in the immigration rate, the number of bilingual children in schools has grown steadily (e.g., in Italy during the period 2001–2014, the rate quadrupled to 9%; Santagati and Ongini, 2015). Language in Bilinguals With SLD disorders (DLD) is two students per class (as much as 7.5% of students), the need to improve our understanding of the neuropsychological characteristics of this population of bilingual children is clear (MIUR, 2015; Norbury et al, 2016; Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder, 2020). The aim of the current study is to investigate the characteristics of the language-related skills of a sample of bilingual (Italian and other language) and Italian native monolingual children with and without SLD, with a special focus on semantic-metalinguistic skills and linguistic measures of executive functions directly involved in the learning process. The second and no less important consideration is that many children with SLD have an unnoticed DLD, which commonly manifests itself in difficulty speaking and/or understanding a written text (Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder, 2020)
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