English Word Reading and Writing in Korean ESL Students with and without Dyslexia

Objectives: In South Korea, English is formally introduced into the school curriculum starting in the third grade. Students with dyslexia, struggling with reading and writing in their first language (L1), often face similar challenges when learning a second language (L2). This study compared English word reading and writing performance between Korean students with and without dyslexia considering word type and task type, and examined group differences in semantic substitution reading errors. Methods: A total of 30 Korean fifth-grade students participated: 15 typically developing (TD) students and 15 students with dyslexia (DYS). The word reading and writing tasks each consisted of 20 real words and 20 pseudowords. A three-way mixed ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of group (TD vs. DYS), word type (real vs. pseudowords), and task type (reading vs. writing). In addition, group differences in semantic substitution reading errors were analyzed. Results: The three-way mixed ANOVA revealed no significant interaction, but significant main effects of group, word type, and task type. The DYS group performed lower than the TD group; performance on real words and reading tasks was higher than on pseudowords and writing. The DYS group also produced significantly more semantic substitution reading errors than the TD group. Conclusion: This study confirmed that Korean dyslexic students experience difficulties in English word reading and writing compared to TD students. It also demonstrated that semantic substitution errors, a primary symptom of dyslexia, are observed in L2 word reading. This suggests that L1 difficulties extend to L2. Future research should concurrently examine performance in both L1 and L2, and analyze dyslexic students’ reading and writing responses at the grapheme level.