Identification of written words in dyslexic and non-dyslexic Arabic-speaking learners of L2 French
Résumé
Learning to read in a language other than the first language (L1) can be a challenge for children recently arrived in France. In some cases, difficulties persist after several years of learning. How then, in this context, can we know whether these difficulties are the result of a specific language disorder or not [1] ? In this chapter, we focus on the written word identification abilities of dyslexic and non-dyslexic Arabic-speaking children learning French as a second language (L2). We present reading results from an experiment conducted in 2020. Written word identification was studied in French reading tests of regular, irregular and pseudowords. Eight children aged eight to ten were observed: two bilingual dyslexic children, two typically developing bilingual children and control groups comprising two monolingual dyslexic children and two monolingual non-dyslexic children. Decoding and orthographic recognition skills, reading speed and accuracy, and the type of errors made were analyzed. The study is currently being replicated on a larger number of subjects, with the aim of identifying and treating bi/plurilingual populations with specific written language disorders more rapidly.