EFL Learning is considered an enriching and rewarding experience for most 'normal' learners. However, for learners with neurological differences/learning disabled, it can be a stressful and unpleasant experience. Students with learning disabilities (SLD) are often mistaken for slow, behind, incapable, and failures as there is a lack of awareness…

This study examined cross-language transfer of word reading accuracy and word reading fluency in Spanish-English and Chinese-English bilinguals. Participants included 51 Spanish-English and 64 Chinese-English bilinguals. Both groups of children completed parallel measures of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, word reading accuracy,…

The main purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between the literature on cognitive variables related to English literacy learning skills, as suggested by the simple view of reading, and the literature on sociocultural variables, specifically acculturation. The sample consisted of 94 Chinese immigrant adolescents from grades 7-12 in Waterloo…

Immigrant students may use and develop language and literacy skills differently depending on the dominance of the first and second language (L1 and L2) in the neighborhoods where they live. In this study, neighborhood effects on students' reported language use at home and with peers, and on measured language and literacy proficiency, were…

The efficacy of a cognitive-based remediation program was investigated with 14 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) poor readers in Grade 4 who had significant difficulty in comprehension and 14 normal ESL readers in Grade 4 who received no remediation. Both groups were selected from 2 English-medium schools in India. We examined pretest-to-posttest…

In recent years, many children from Eastern European orphanages have been adopted by families in the United States. When children begin life with their new families, they experience an abrupt language shift in which the learning of their native language halts as the learning of the new language commences. Without the support of their native…

The Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (WRMT-R) is advertised as usable with English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students (with provisions to ensure students' understanding of instructions). This articles describes new features of the WRMT-R and examines criticisms of it since its debut in 1973. (SM)