Dominanza manuale, disturbi del linguaggio e difficoltà di apprendimento della L2 / Manual dominance, language disorders and L2 learning difficulties

Antonino Bucca

Antonino Bucca

Abstract

Does it really make sense to imagine research on the hypothesis of a possible correlation between left-handed dominance and some language and/or learning disorders? Can this idea find a place within a broader theoretical-naturalistic model of the origin and the functioning of language? Finally, is it useful to consider this correlation also in relation to gender and/or cultural differences?

The problem of a possible correlation between mancinism and manifestations of some language disorder is not new at all. In fact, from Samuel T. Orton’s (1937) surveys to a number of other recent researches, this hypothesis has been at the center of several studies (among others, see: CORBALLIS 1974; SATZ, FLETCHER 1987; EGLINTON, ANNETT 1994; MCMANUS 1999; ANNETT 2011; SCERRI et al. 2011; VLACHOS et al. 2013). Moreover, this idea is also confirmed by empirical observations of class teachers in primary schools.

There may, therefore, be a correlation between left-handed dominance and the greater incidence in left-handed subjects of some language and/or learning disorders such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia (Learning Disabilities – LD, or DSA), and learning difficulty of the second language (L2). To try to better understand this problem, I present the results of our research on a representative sample of children from the Italian primary school.

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