Abstract
Specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia are found to co-occur in school-aged children learning Chinese, a non-alphabetic language (Wong, Kidd, Ho, & Au in Sci Stud Read 14:30–57, 2010). This paper examined the ‘Distinct’ hypothesis—that SLI and dyslexia have different cognitive deficits and behavioural manifestations (e.g., Catts, Adolf, Hogan, & Weismer in J Speech Lang Hear Res 48:1378–1396, 2005) in Chinese children in Primary 1. Ninety-four six- to seven-year-old Chinese children completed a norm-referenced test for oral language and for literacy, as well as cognitive tasks related to reading development. Based on results from the norm-referenced tests, 40 children fell in the typically-developing Control group, 10 children in the dyslexia-only (D) group, 19 in the SLI-only group and 25 children in the SLI-D group. Orthographic skills and lexical access and retrieval skills were found to be associated with dyslexia. Phonological memory and morphological awareness were associated with SLI. Phonological awareness was associated with both SLI and dyslexia. SLI and dyslexia in Chinese did not seem to be distinct disorders as they were both characterized by a deficit in phonological awareness. Implications for clinical practice were discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bishop, D. V. M. (2006). What causes specific language impairment in children? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 217–221.
Bishop, D. V. M., McDonald, D., Bird, S., & Mayiou-Thomas, M. E. (2009). Children who read words accurately despite language impairment: Who are they and how do they do it? Child Development, 80, 593–605.
Bishop, D. V. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2004). Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: Same or different? Psychological Bulletin, 130, 858–886.
Bryant, P., Maclean, M., & Bradley, L. (1990). Rhyme, language, and children’s reading. Applied Psycholinguistics, 11, 237–252.
Catts, H. (1993). The relationship between speech-language impairments and reading disabilities. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 948–958.
Catts, H. W., Adolf, S. M., Hogan, T. P., & Weismer, S. E. (2005). Are specific language impairment and dyslexia distinct disorders? Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 48, 1378–1396.
Chan, D. W., Ho, C. S.-H., Tsang, S.-M., Lee, S.-H., & Chung, K. K.-H. (2007). Prevalence, gender ratio, and gender differences in reading-related cognitive abilities among Chinese children with dyslexia in Hong Kong. Educational Studies, 33, 249–265.
Chaney, C. (1998). Preschool language and metalinguistic skills are links to reading success. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19, 443–446.
Chow, B. W. Y., McBride-Chang, C., & Burgess, S. (2005). Phonological processing skills and early reading abilities in Hong Kong Chinese kindergarteners learning to read English as a second language. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 81–87.
Chung, K. K. H., Ho, C. S. H., Chan, D. W., Tsang, S. M., & Lee, S. H. (2010). Cognitive profiles of Chinese adolescents with dyslexia. Dyslexia, 16, 2–23.
Chung, K. K.-H., McBride-Chang, C., Wong, S. W.-L., Cheung, H., Penney, T. B., & Ho, C. S.-H. (2008). The role of visual and auditory temporal processing for Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 58, 15–35.
de Bree, E., Wijnen, F., & Gerrits, E. (2010). Non-word repetition and literacy in Dutch children at-risk of dyslexia and children with SLI: Results of the follow-up study. Dyslexia, 16, 36–44.
Eisenmajer, N., Ross, N., & Pratt, C. (2005). Specificity and characteristics of learning disabilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 1108–1115.
Estes, K. G., Evans, J. L., & Else-Quest, N. M. (2007). Differences in the nonword repetition performance of children with and without specific language impairment: A meta-analysis. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 50, 177–195.
Fraser, J., Goswami, U., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2010). Dyslexia and specific sanguage impairment: The role of phonology and auditory processing. Scientific Studies of Reading, 14, 8–29.
Fung, R. S.-Y. (2009). Characteristics of Chinese in relation to language disorders. In S. P. Law, B. S. Weekes, & A. M.-Y. Wong (Eds.), Language disorders in speakers of Chinese (pp. 1–18). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Gathercole, S. E., Willis, C., Emslie, H., & Baddeley, A. D. (1992). Phonological memory and vocabulary development during the early school years: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 28, 887–898.
Grela, B., Snyder, W., & Hiramatsu, K. (2005). The production of novel root compounds in children with specific language impairment. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 19, 701–715.
Ho, C. S.-H., Chan, D. W.-O., Chung, K. K.-H., Lee, S.-H., & Tsang, S.-M. (2007a). In search of subtypes of Chinese developmental dyslexia. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 97, 61–83.
Ho, C. S.-H., Chan, D. W.-O., Chung, K. K.-H., Tsang, S.-M., Lee, S.-H., & Cheng, R. W.-Y. (2007b). The Hong Kong test of specific learning difficulties in reading and writing for primary school students-second edition [HKT-P(II)]. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Research Team.
Ho, C. S.-H., Chan, D. W.-O., Lee, S.-H., Tsang, S.-M., & Luan, V. H. (2004). Cognitive profiling and preliminary subtyping in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Cognition, 91, 43–75.
Ho, C. S.-H., Chan, D. W.-O., Tsang, S.-M., & Lee, S.-H. (2002). The cognitive profile and multiple-deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Developmental Psychology, 38, 543–553.
Ho, C. S.-H., Law, T. P.-S., & Ng, P.-M. (2000). The phonological deficit hypothesis in Chinese developmental dyslexia. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13, 57–79.
Ho, C. S.-H., Leung, M.-T., & Cheung, H. (2011). Early difficulties of Chinese preschoolers at familial risk for dyslexia: Deficits in oral language, phonological processing skills and print-related skills. Dyslexia, 17, 143–164.
Leonard, L. (1998). Children with specific language impairment. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
McArthur, G., & Castles, A. (2013). Phonological processing deficits in specific reading disability and specific language impairment: Same or different? Journal of Research in Reading, 36, 280–302.
McArthur, G. M., Hogben, J. H., Edwards, V. T., Heath, S. M., & Mengler, E. D. (2000). On the “specifics” of specific reading disability and specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 869–874.
McBride-Chang, C. (2004). Children’s literacy development. London: Arnold.
McBride-Chang, C., & Ho, C. S. H. (2000). Developmental issues in Chinese children’s character acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 50–55.
McBride-Chang, C., Lam, F., Lam, C., Chan, B., Fong, C. Y.-C., Wong, T. T.-Y., & Wong, S. W.-L. (2011). Early predictors of dyslexia in Chinese children: Familial history of dyslexia, language delay, and cognitive profiles. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 204–211.
McBride-Chang, C., Shu, H., Zhou, A. B., Wat, C. P., & Wagner, R. K. (2003). Morphological awareness uniquely predicts young children’s Chinese character recognition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 743–751.
McGregor, K. K., Rost, G. C., Guo, L. Y., & Sheng, L. (2010). What compound words mean to children with specific language impairment. Applied Psycholinguistics, 31, 463–487.
Melby-Lervag, M., & Lervag, A. (2012). Oral language skills moderate nonword repetition skills in children with dyslexia: A meta-analysis of the role of nonword repetition skills in dyslexia. Scientific Studies of Reading, 16, 1–34.
Melby-Lervag, M., Lyster, S., & Hulme, C. (2012). Phonological skills and their role in learning to read: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 322–352.
Metsala, J. L. (1997). Spoken word recognition in reading disabled children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 159–169.
Metsala, J. L., & Walley, A. C. (1998). Spoken word vocaulary growth and the segmental restructuring of lexical representations: Precursors to phonemic awareness and early reading ability. In J. L. Metsala & L. C. Ehri (Eds.), Word recognition in beginning literacy (pp. 89–120). Mahwah, WJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Montgomery, J. W., Magimairaj, B. M., & Finney, M. C. (2010). Working memory and specific language impairment: An update on the relation and perspectives on assessment and treatment. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 19, 78–94.
Nation, K., & Hulme, C. (2011). Learning to read changes children’s phonological skills: Evidence from a latent variable longitudinal study of reading and nonword repetition. Developmental Science, 14, 649–659.
Norton, E. S., & Wolf, M. (2012). Rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading fluency: Implications for understanding and treatment of reading disabilities. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 427–452.
Oetting, J. B., & Rice, M. L. (1993). Plural acquisition in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 36, 1236–1248.
Pennington, B. (2006). From single to multiple deficit models of developmental disorders. Cognition, 101, 385–413.
Perfetti, C., Cao, F., & Booth, J. (2013). Specialization and universals in the development of reading skill: How Chinese research informs a universal science of reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17, 5–21.
Ramus, F., Marshall, C. R., Rosen, S., & van der Lely, H. K. J. (2013). Phonological deficits in specific language impairment and developmental dyslexia: Towards a multi-dimensional model. Brain, 136, 630–645.
Raven, J. C. (1986). Hong Kong supplement guide to the standard progressive matrices. Hong Kong: HKSAR Government Education Department.
Seidenberg, M. S., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (1979). Orthographic effects on rhyme monitoring. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Human Learning and Memory, 5, 546–554.
Shu, H., McBride-Chang, C., Wu, H., & Liu, H. (2006). Understanding Chinese developmental dyslexia: Morphological awareness as a core cognitive construct. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 122–133.
Smith-Lock, K. M. (1995). Morphological usage and awareness in children with and without specific language impairment. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 163–185.
Stanovich, K. E. (1993). A model for studies of reading disability. Developmental Review, 13, 225–245.
Stokes, S. F., Wong, A. M.-Y., Fletcher, P., & Leonard, L. B. (2006). Nonword repetition and sentence repetition as clinical markers of SLI: The case of Cantonese. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49, 219–236.
Tong, X., McBride-Chang, C., Wong, A. M.-Y., Shu, H., Reitsma, P., & Rispens, J. (2011). Longitudinal predictors of very early Chinese literacy acquisition. Journal of Research in Reading, 34, 315–332.
Torgesen, J. K., Wagner, R. K., & Rashotte, C. A. (1994). Longitudinal studies of phonological processing and reading. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27, 276–286.
T’sou, B., Cheung, H.-T., Lee, T. H.-T., To, C. K.-S., & Tung, P. C.-S. (n.d.). Hong Kong Oral Language Assessment Scale (HKCOLAS) validation project: June 2006–August 2007.
T’sou, B., Lee, T. H.-T., Tung, P., Man, Y., Chan, A., To, C. K. S., Chan, Y. (2006). Hong Kong Cantonese Oral Language Assessment Scale. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong.
Van Der Lely, H. K. J., & Christian, V. (2000). Lexical word formation in children with grammatical SLI: A grammar-specific versus an input-processing deficit? Cognition, 75, 33–63.
Wolf, M., Bowers, P. G., & Biddle, K. (2000). Naming-speed processes, timing, and reading: A conceptual review. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 33, 387–407.
Wong, E. Y.-F., Ho, C. S.-H., Chung, K. K.-H., Chan, D., & Tsang, S.-M. (2006). The Hong Kong learning behaviour checklist for preschool children (parent version). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Research Team.
Wong, A. M.-Y., Kidd, J., Ho, C. S.-H., & Au, T. K.-F. (2010). Characterizing the overlap between SLI and dyslexia in Chinese: The role of phonology and beyond. Scientific Studies of Reading, 14, 30–57.
Wong, S. W.-L., McBride-Chang, C., Lam, C., Chan, B., Lam, F. W.-F., & Doo, S. (2012). The joint effects of risk status, gender, early literacy and cognitive skills on the presence of dyslexia among a group of high-risk Chinese children. Dyslexia, 18, 40–57.
Acknowledgments
We thank speech-language therapists at the Child Assessment Services and our research assistants for their support, the parents and children for their participation. We thank the Hong Kong Research Grant Council for funding support GRF753308H 2008–2012 to the first author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wong, A.MY., Ho, C.SH., Au, T.KF. et al. (Dis)connections between specific language impairment and dyslexia in Chinese. Read Writ 28, 699–719 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9546-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9546-3