Bilingualism and Dyslexia: A Focus on Late Bilingual Students With Italian as L2 and Developmental Dyslexia

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the prevalence of students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) within the Italian school system. Among these disorders, dyslexia stands out as the most common, often co-occurring with other conditions in what is known as comorbidity. Simultaneously, there has been a rise in the number of late bilingual students with Italian as their second language (L2) attending Italian schools. Identifying poor readers and those at risk of dyslexia among successive bilinguals is getting harder since the low L2 proficiency level due to poor L2 exposure risks being misinterpreted. Misdiagnosis often occurs when the language biography of the children is not considered. While there is ample scientific evidence supporting the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, such as enhanced executive functions, metalinguistic awareness, and attention, its impact on individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD) remains a subject of debate. Thus, there is a bias that bilingualism has a negative impact on the level of reading difficulties among students with learning disorders notably DD. Even within the scientific community, the question of whether bilingualism confers an advantage or disadvantage in dyslexia remains unresolved. This study aims to provide a state-of-the-art of the literature on how bilingualism and dyslexia interact, by reviewing research conducted on this topic. On the other hand, we aim to point to newly emerging tests and tools used to identify late bilingual poor readers with Italian L2. We examined the results of several studies conducted in the literature, which demonstrated that bilingualism does not aggravate DD. We decided to select both experimental studies and scientific reviews. 197 articles were retrieved via online databases through keyword search. After having removed duplicate records (N=50), we proceeded with title and abstract screening. Afterward, 125 records were excluded because they were considered off-topic or had a mismatched target. Hence, N=22 records were full text screened. The final articles selected (N=14) are in this review analysed and discussed. Literature suggests that bilingualism does not exacerbate dyslexia; in fact, it may offer certain benefits. Albeit bilingual dyslexic individuals may demonstrate morphological advantages, particularly in L2 tasks such as nonword article pluralization in Italian, their performance in phonological awareness and lexical retrieval tasks aligns with that of monolingual dyslexic peers. Importantly, bilingualism does not impede the development of dyslexic children’s skills, nor does it lead to additional challenges. Regarding our second aim of identifying new tools to recognize poor readers among late bilinguals with Italian as their second language (L2) and avoid false-positive diagnoses, it’s noteworthy that standardized clinical instruments tailored to bilinguals have only recently been introduced in Italy. Indeed, in clinical contexts, bilingual children are often assessed using tests standardized on monolinguals, which is an issue. Despite the lack of consensus in the literature, concerns regarding the detrimental effects of bilingualism on dyslexia appear unfounded. Moving forward, it is essential to continue refining assessment tools to accurately identify dyslexia in bilingual populations, thereby avoiding misdiagnosis. Furthermore, future research should explore the specific mechanisms underlying the interaction between bilingualism and dyslexia to inform more targeted interventions and support strategies for bilingual children with dyslexia. In conclusion, while the relationship between bilingualism and dyslexia remains complex and multifaceted, evidence suggests that bilingualism neither exacerbates nor impedes dyslexia. By advancing our understanding of this interaction and improving specific assessment practices, we can better support the academic success and well-being of late bilingual children with developmental dyslexia.