Phonological awareness in Panjabi/English children with phonological difficulties

Abstract

This paper reports the performance on phonological awareness tasks across both languages of four children, bilingual in Panjabi and English; three of whom have phonological difficulties and the fourth who does not. The child without difficulties accesses, retrieves and manipulates phonological represen tations across both languages, but not at ceiling level, despite being 6 years of age. The other children show difficulties in distinct ways, throwing more light on the nature of their phonological development, with implications for therapy intervention. Links between their phonological difficulties and literacy development in English are established. A wider study on bilingual phono logical awareness is recommended.

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