Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Language, Culture and Diversity
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1495043
This article is part of the Research Topic Learning foreign languages: experiences of persons with disabilities and special educational needs and their teachers View all 3 articles

English Learners with Dyslexia Benefit from English Dyslexia Intervention: An Observational Study of Routine Intervention Practices

Provisionally accepted
  • Scottish Rite for Children, Dallas, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Learning to read when the language of the curriculum differs from one's home language can pose unique challenges. For example, compared to the language spoken at home, the learner may be less familiar with the sound structure and have relatively limited word knowledge in the language of instruction. In the United States, English is the primary language of reading instruction for students who are English Proficient (EP) and for English Learners (EL). Current evidence indicates that for both EP and EL students, code-based competencies and meaning-based skills are important for learning to read. English-language reading interventions have been shown to be beneficial for EPs and ELs with reading problems, though it is not clear if this is also true when the reading problem is a reading disorder like dyslexia. The current study addresses this question by comparing EL and EP student's reading profile at baseline and changes over time in response to evidence-based English Language Dyslexia Instruction (ELDI) in public schools.Findings reveal similar patterns of reading profiles across EL and EP groups, with more severe baseline deficits emerging for ELs. Groups performed equivalently on target reading skills after two years of intensive multi-componential reading intervention. Findings confirm and extend previous research, suggesting ELs can be identified and successfully served through routine practices, including ELDI.

    Keywords: English Learner (EL), Dyslexia, Dyslexia Intervention, second language, reading outcomes

    Received: 11 Sep 2024; Accepted: 11 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Middleton, Davila and Frierson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Anna E Middleton, Scottish Rite for Children, Dallas, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.