https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219419866645 Journal of Learning Disabilities 1–12 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0022219419866645 journaloflearningdisabilities.sagepub.com Article Language impairments are associated with poor academic achievement and require sensitive and timely identifica- tion and provision of relevant intervention and accom- modation. Language impairments typically persist across the lifespan, although their expression may change over time (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 2017; Farnia, 2018). Individuals with develop- mental language disorders (DLD) “have difficulties in the acquisition and use of language components such as pho- nology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics across different modalities” (ASHA, 2017; Bishop, Snowling, Thompson, Greenhalgh, & The CATALISE Consortium, 2017). These general observations about DLD have been made in relation to both monolingual (e.g., Rice & Hoffman, 2015) and bilingual children (e.g., Kohnert, 2010). Research on DLD has shown that lan- guage problems that persist into adolescence impact neg- atively not only academic achievement but also interpersonal relations, friendship-making, and socio- emotional problems (Beitchman et al., 1999; Conti- Ramsden & Botting, 2008). DLD in First and Second Language Learners Studies involving DLD in children whose home language is the societal language, hereafter L1, have demonstrated rela- tionships between difficulties in syntactic and semantic skills and underlying cognitive processes such as auditory perception and working memory (Bishop, 2004; Van Daal, Verhoeven, & van Balkom, 2004). In addition, research involving first language (L1) learners has documented the relationship between deficits in vocabulary and DLD (e.g., Archibald & Gathercole, 2006; Jackson, Leitao, & Claessen, 2016), as well as between deficits in syntax and DLD (e.g., Joanisse & Seidenberg, 2003). In addition, evidence for the 866645LDX XX X 10.1177/0022219419866645Journal of Learning DisabilitiesFarnia and Geva research-article 2019 University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada Corresponding Author: Fataneh Farnia, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1V6. Email: fataneh.farnia@utoronto.ca Late-Emerging Developmental Language Disorders in English-Speaking Monolinguals and English-Language Learners: A Longitudinal Perspective Fataneh Farnia, PhD and Esther Geva, PhD Abstract Research involving monolinguals has demonstrated that language impairment can be noticed in the early years and tends to persist into adolescence. More recently, research has begun to address the challenges of identifying and treating Developmental Language Disorders (DLD) in English Language Learners (ELLs). Developmental patterns of DLD are not necessarily consistent over time, and we hypothesized that some monolinguals and ELLs go “under the radar” in lower grades but their language difficulties become more pronounced in later years, as syntactic demands increase, hence “late-emerging DLD”. This longitudinal study examined (a) the existence of late-emerging DLD in Grades 4-6 in English- speaking monolinguals and ELLs, and (b) the Grade 1 and 3 cognitive and language profiles that predict late-emerging DLD. This study involved monolinguals (n = 149), and ELLs (n = 402) coming from diverse home language backgrounds. Cognitive (working memory, phonological short-term memory, processing speed), language (vocabulary and syntax), and word reading skills were assessed annually from grades 1 to 6. Separate parallel analyses in the monolingual and ELL samples confirmed that late-emerging DLD exists in both groups. In comparison with their typically developing peers, late-emerging DLD can be identified as early as Grade 1 based on poorer performance on phonological awareness, naming speed, and working memory. Keywords disorders, language, identification/classification, English-language learners, second language learners