Assessing research on dyslexic language learners in contexts with English as a foreign language

This chapter will review research conducted to date on dyslexic language learners in contexts where students learn English as a foreign language. In most of these studies dyslexia is seen as a specific learning difference which has neurological origins and is treated as an individual difference variable that affects learning processes and performance in the classroom and in standardized language tests. Consequently, in their methodologies, most studies adapt an etic perspective and are quantitative in approach. This field is primarily characterized by the use of survey instruments and language tests that are administered to dyslexic and non-dyslexic students to compare their disposition to learning. Research methodologies and methods that aim to present the processes of EFL from the students’ own emic perspective are scarce. The chapter will critically review what the theoretical stances and current research perspectives and methods that currently dominate this field can uncover concerning the relationship between multilingualism and dyslexia and what issues remain unresolved within this paradigm