Role of Language in Multilingual Children with Suspected Dyslexia: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate language profiles, Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and Primary Language Disorders (PLD) in multilingual suspected dyslexics. Methods: A cross-sectional was conducted in a tertiary care hospital at Mumbai. The sample consisted of 46 participants aged 8-13 years. Performances of children were compared using the Linguistic Profile Test (LPT) and Dyslexia Assessment for Languages of India (DALI). Nonparametric statistics were carried out to assess the data. Results: It was found that the dyslexics had affection in semantics and literacy domain, but LEP (Group 2) cases had poor phonological awareness and PLD (Group 3) group closely mimicked the SLD (Group 1) group in overall test performance. In linguistic profile test, delayed language was found in Group 3. This study highlights the fact that in order to characterize SLD in multilingual societies it is important to assess the child in all languages familiar to them.