Cognitive-linguistic correlates of word reading in bilingual adolescents with dyslexia

The present study examined cognitive-linguistic correlates of word reading in Chinese adolescents with dyslexia learning English as a second language (L2). Ninety two Chinese-speaking adolescents at Grade 6 in Hong Kong participated in this study, 46 students with dyslexia and 46 typically developing students. They were matched on age, IQ and parents’ education levels. All students were administered the assessment measures in both Chinese (L1) and English (L2): working memory, rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and word reading at Grade 3 and Grade 6. Multivariate analysis indicated that compared to the typically developing peers, students with dyslexia showed weakness in working memory, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and morphological awareness across the two grades. Predictive discriminate analysis also showed morphological awareness and RAN are strong correlates of reading difficulties in L1 and L2, but Chinese phonological awareness is not. These findings suggest reading difficulty co-occurrence in L1 and L2 and underscore the potential importance of morphological awareness and RAN for reading difficulties in both Chinese and English. Copyright © 2021 ICP.