Department of Psychology, University of Milano Bicocca, Italy.
University of Pavia, Italy.
Br J Educ Psychol. 2021 Mar;91(1):63-77. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12348. Epub 2020 Apr 17.
Children with dyslexia often show second-language reading and writing difficulties, but the cognitive mechanisms connected to this impairment need to be clarified.
The present study examined the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying learning English as a foreign language in 4th- to the 8th-grade Italian students showing reading difficulties (RD) or typical development (TD). For this purpose, screening involving 901 students was carried out to select children with RD.
Ninety students with RD were compared with 90 typically developing (TD) children matched for non-verbal IQ, grade, and gender.
The two groups were compared on different measures to understand the relationships between reading skills in their mother tongue and in English as a second-language (L2). Subsequently, their phonological and memory skills were investigated to understand the potential role of these variables in learning L2 English.
Students with RD obtained worse results than TD students for phonological awareness and working memory, which are both crucial to L2 learning.
The results suggest that memory mainly influences accuracy in English writing and, together with phonological skills, plays an important role in reading accuracy. Socio-economic status also plays an important role in L2 learning.
阅读障碍儿童通常在第二语言的阅读和写作方面表现出困难，但与这种障碍相关的认知机制仍需阐明。
本研究旨在探究四年级至八年级意大利阅读障碍（RD）或典型发展（TD）儿童学习英语作为外语的神经心理机制。为此，对 901 名学生进行了筛查，以选择阅读困难的儿童。
90 名 RD 儿童与 90 名具有非言语智商、年级和性别相匹配的典型发育（TD）儿童进行比较。
比较两组儿童在其母语和第二语言（L2）阅读技能方面的不同测量指标，以了解阅读技能之间的关系。随后，研究了他们的语音和记忆技能，以了解这些变量在学习 L2 英语中的潜在作用。
RD 组学生在语音意识和工作记忆方面的表现均差于 TD 组学生，而这两者对 L2 学习至关重要。
结果表明，记忆主要影响英语写作的准确性，与语音技能一起，在阅读准确性中起着重要作用。社会经济地位也对 L2 学习起着重要作用。
