Language Disabilities in Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

Language Disabilities in Cultural and Linguistic Diversity offers a new approach to understanding the familiar dilemma of disentangling difficulties in communication for learners developing the language of schooling. The author takes a socio-cultural Vygotskian approach to reinterpret international research in language disabilities, namely specific language impairment, communication difficulties, dyslexia and deafness.

Deirdre Martin is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Birmingham, UK. She has extensive experience as an educator and researcher with children and families with language disabilities in multilingual societies. She was a speech and language therapist in the UK and Peru, co-founded the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists' special interest group in bilingualism and has been a specialist professional advisor. She currently leads postgraduate programmes on language disability and dyslexia for professionals working in EAL, EFL and bilingual contexts. She has published and presented widely in the field of language development, disability and bilingualism.