4

Research concerning the specific risk factors for language disorders among children of immigrants born in the receiving country illustrates evidence of a series of interacting determinants of vulnerability, the multiplication of which may create situations of cumulative trauma. Being born “undocumented” appears to have a significant impact on the development of language disorders among our subjects. These observations have allowed us to reflect on the issues and consequences related to the situation of immigrant mothers who give birth to children in a “foreign” land, as well as the specificities linked to language acquisition among these children. Our work reveals a public health issue and the necessity of implementing preventative measures that allow us to offer a structuring external framework to immigrant families and that participate in supporting the development of their children in order to prevent or to detect disorders as soon as possible.