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How Brain-Based Research Can Rewire Education for Bi/Multilingual Children with Special Educational Needs in Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines

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International Handbook on Education Development in Asia-Pacific

Abstract

Recent brain-based research has made significant contributions to our understanding of the strengths and challenges of children with special educational needs (SEN), especially those with developmental dyslexia (DD). Growing evidence suggests that multiple neural mechanisms are associated with various manifestations of cognitive and linguistic weaknesses in children with DD, and that overlapping and language-specific brain regions are involved in oral language processing and reading in different languages. Nevertheless, how such brain-based evidence can inform current educational practice and policy remains underexplored. This issue becomes even more significant for Asian children growing up in a bi/multilingual environment, such as Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines. Thus, in this chapter, we (1) analyze language use and language education policy in each of the aforementioned societies; (2) synthesize neural evidence pertaining to speech, language, and word reading processing among bi/multilingual children with and without DD; (3) discuss challenges facing clinicians and educators when working with DD children in a bi/multilingual context; and (4) provide a framework integrating brain-based research with clinical and educational practice in Asian societies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Science, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Shelley Xiuli Tong, Arpitha Vasudevamurthy, Kembell Lentejas, Puyuan Zhang & Ning An

Authors
  1. Shelley Xiuli Tong
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  2. Arpitha Vasudevamurthy
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  3. Kembell Lentejas
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  4. Puyuan Zhang
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  5. Ning An
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shelley Xiuli Tong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Singapore Institute of Adult Learning, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore, Singapore

    Wing On Lee

  2. School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Phillip Brown

  3. Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    A. Lin Goodwin

  4. University College London Institute of Education, London, UK

    Andy Green

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Nancy Law

Appendix

Appendix

Table 1 Phonological awareness across English, Chinese/Cantonese, Hindi and Filipino
Full size table
Table 2 Morphological awareness across English, Chinese/Cantonese, Hindi, and Filipino
Full size table
Table 3 Orthographic depth features across English, Chinese, Filipino, and Hindi
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Table 4 Some domain general cognitive skills underpinning literacy acquisition across English, Chinese, Hindi and Filipino
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Tong, S.X., Vasudevamurthy, A., Lentejas, K., Zhang, P., An, N. (2023). How Brain-Based Research Can Rewire Education for Bi/Multilingual Children with Special Educational Needs in Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines. In: Lee, W.O., Brown, P., Goodwin, A.L., Green, A. (eds) International Handbook on Education Development in Asia-Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2327-1_116-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2327-1_116-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-2327-1

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