ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates educational policies formulated for Learning Disabilities (LD) populations in five different countries with a special focus on culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students who may have LD, in particular dyslexia, and to examine how recent research trends are reflected in the legislation in different countries. It reviews research on language development among dyslexic students who also speak more than one language (L2 learners), and presents some critical challenges to assessment of dyslexia among ELL/L2 students. The chapter overviews of dyslexia-related policies in five countries: the US, Canada, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Tao is a native Chinese-speaking student who moved from Beijing to Toronto with his parents three years ago when he was 12. After moving to Toronto, he was placed in an English Language Learners (ELLs) classroom and his academic skills in Chinese were not assessed. Population mobility has accelerated markedly under global integration, not only in Canada but in all countries.
