Early Reading Abilities of Bilingual Children With Nonsyndromic Orofacial Clefts

To investigate the early reading abilities, and related cognitive-linguistic processes, in bilingual children with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P), and to identify deficits that might be amenable to intervention.

Bilingual participants with CL/P aged 5 to 6 years who were English-dominant ( n=17) or Mandarin-dominant ( n=18) were recruited using consecutive sampling from a national cleft treatment center and matched pairwise to a sample of typically developing (TD) children on language dominance, age, and socioeconomic status. All participants were assessed in English on single-word reading accuracy using the Wide Range Achievement Test (4th Ed), and key cognitive-linguistic factors associated with reading development: phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), receptive and expressive vocabulary, and verbal short-term and working memory.

CL/P and TD groups were compared within language dominance group (Mandarin or English) for all measures. The Mandarin-dominant CL/P group had significantly poorer reading accuracy and phonological awareness than their TD peers. Additionally, regardless of language dominance, faster RAN correlated significantly with better reading accuracy in both the CL/P groups but not the TD groups.

Children with CL/P who are learning English as a second language are at greater risk of reading difficulties. Furthermore, the cognitive-linguistic processes underlying early reading in bilingual children with CL/P differ from those of their TD peers. Routine screening and tailored intervention is advisable.