Is There an Association between Executive Function and Receptive Vocabulary in Bilingual Children? A Longitudinal Examination.

Vanessa Diaz,Maria Borjas,M Jeffrey Farrar

doi:10.3390/children8010044

Vanessa Diaz, Maria Borjas + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/children8010044

Copy DOI

Abstract

Dual language management has been proposed as the reason for bilingual children’s sometimes enhanced executive functioning (EF). We sought to identify the directionality of the relation between language proficiency and EF, using measures of receptive vocabulary, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Data were collected twice, a year apart, on 35- to 66.8-month-old bilingual (n = 41, M = 49.19 months) and monolingual preschool children (n = 37, M = 47.82 months). The longitudinal results revealed that while the monolingual children’s vocabulary at Time 1 predicted EF at Time 2, EF at Time 1 did not predict vocabulary at Time 2. In contrast, for bilingual children the relation was not present at all. The results were similar after the one-time analyses. The absence of relations between EF and language in bilinguals, while present in monolinguals, challenges the current conceptualization of the EF advantage in bilinguals, and emphasizes the need for more research on the development of bilingual children.

Highlights

The specific nature of the relation between language development and executive functioning (EF) has been much examined and greatly debated (e.g., [1,2,3])
In the current investigation we examine the directionality of this relationship across time in bilinguals and monolinguals to answer the following questions: Does more efficient EF at one point predict improved language proficiency a year later as measured by receptive vocabulary? Does higher language proficiency, as measured by receptive vocabulary, instead predict a more efficient EF later on? Is the relation bidirectional? To our knowledge, our study is the first to examine the longitudinal relation between EF and receptive vocabulary skills in bilingual preschool children
Given the lack of relations detected in this sample, other variables related to language development and EF should be analyzed as part of alternative ways of conceptualizing the development of EF and language proficiency in bilingual children

Summary

Introduction

The specific nature of the relation between language development and executive functioning (EF) has been much examined and greatly debated (e.g., [1,2,3]). Previous longitudinal studies on this topic on monolingual children have found varying associations in terms of directionality, suggesting a number of possible underlying mechanisms. These suggested mechanisms include simultaneous and interactive development [3]; primacy of EF relative to language development [4]; the influence of a potential third factor, such as processing speed [5,6]; and that language proficiency may act as a mediator between EF and other factors, such as phonological awareness. We will review these findings in greater detail, as well as the available findings on bilingual populations

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion