Chapter 4. Language, cognitive, and academic abilities of school-age internationally-adopted children

Although internationally-adopted (IA) children generally display signs of successful adaptation and developmental resilience at older ages, other studies have found that a larger than expected subgroup of IA children experience some weaknesses in language during the school years (Scott, Roberts, & Glennen, 2011). Studies that have compared the abilities of school-aged IA children to those of non-adopted monolingual children matched on important variables have found that the IA children experience long-term language weaknesses (Delcenserie, Genesee & Gauthier, 2013).The main goal of the present chapter is to offer a review of school-age IA children’s language development; however, additional aspects of their development are considered, including memory, executive functions, and academic achievement. These areas are related to language development and make it possible to provide a broader picture of adoptees’ overall development.