Reflections of Developmental Language Disorder in the Written Language of Turkish–German Bilingual Children

Aims and Objectives: This study examined written language performance in six Turkish–German bilingual children diagnosed with developmental language disorder (DLD), with a focus on phonological, morphological, and morphosyntactic features in Turkish. It aimed to identify error patterns in written narratives and explore the interaction between bilingualism and DLD in written language production. Method: A qualitative case study design was employed. Six Turkish–German bilingual children with an official DLD diagnosis were selected through purposive sampling. Multiple data sources, including written narratives, observations, interviews, and reflective journals, were used to obtain an in-depth understanding of participants’ language performance. Data and Analysis: The primary data consisted of written narrative summaries produced after participants listened to age-appropriate Turkish stories. Texts were analyzed through document and error analysis. Errors were categorized into phonological and morphosyntactic domains, and individual patterns were examined across participants. Findings: Findings indicated substantial difficulties in written language among bilingual children with DLD. Frequent errors included phoneme substitutions, omissions and additions, incorrect inflectional morphemes, tense and case marking errors, subject–verb agreement problems, and violations of Turkish word order. Children with richer Turkish exposure and earlier intervention access showed relatively more accurate performance. Originality: This study contributes to the limited literature on written language in bilingual children with DLD in the Turkish–German context, extending evidence beyond the predominantly oral-language-focused research. Implications: Findings highlight the importance of early identification and intervention for bilingual children with DLD and offer implications for assessment, literacy instruction, and educational support in multilingual settings.