Dis/ability labels and emergent bilingual children: current research and new possibilities to grow as bilingual and biliterate learners

Children who learn at the crossroads of multiple identities are at risk of experiencing inequality at multiple levels. Intersectionality frameworks have illuminated the relationship between cultural and language differences and dis/abilities, but they can also help us surface the effects dis/ability labels have on language choices for emergent bilingual (EB) children. With the primary objective of assisting the field of Bilingual Special Education (BiSPED), and related fields, move forward, this narrative literature review addresses: (1) How does a dis/ability label impact EBs’ opportunities to become fully bilingual/biliterate in their two languages? (2) What does existing research tell us about the learning of bilingual children with dis/abilities in bilingual programs? Findings show that emergent bilinguals have fewer opportunities than their peers to learn in bilingual programs when they have dis/abilities, even though research suggests they can learn bilingually at no additional cost. Implications for researchers and educators are discussed.