Heterogeneity in English as a Foreign Language: Skills Among Norwegian 6th Graders with Dyslexia—The Impact of Language Comprehension and Processing Profiles

Abstract

Background: English as a first foreign language (EFL) is often difficult for students with dyslexia. This study maps a broad range of EFL verbal and literacy skills in 6th graders with dyslexia compared to a control group. Methods: Participants were 127 controls (CON) and 60 students with dyslexia (DYS), split into dys+ and dys− by their comprehension scores. They were tested with “The English 2 Dyslexia Test” containing seven subtests within three domains: Sentences, Pragmatics, and Literacy. The data were analysed in Part 1: domains and groups, and in Part 2: linguistic skills and spelling by groups. Results: Part 1. CON scored better than DYS on all tests. However, the differences between the two subgroups, dys+ and dys−, were larger than expected. Dys+ scored in line with CON on several tests, while dys− scored below CON on all tests and lower than dys+ on all except for spelling. Part 2. Minor differences were seen between CON and dys+ in linguistic skills, and both CON and dys+ scored higher than dys−. Spelling was scored by the number of graphemes. CON scored higher than both dys+ and dys−, with no difference between the subgroups. Conclusions: The results were discussed in accordance with neurocognitive theories of the auditory and visual timing systems. The overall low scores in dys− were mainly attributed to auditory processing problems, while the specific low spelling scores in dys+ were mainly attributed to visual processing problems. More research is needed on how the behavioural patterns in the two dyslexia subgroups relate to neural correlates in the meeting between EFL and different L1 language typologies and orthographies.