The Relationship Between Bilingualism and Executive Functioning in Spanish- and English-Speaking Head Start Preschoolers
The Relationship Between Bilingualism and Executive Functioning in Spanish- and English-Speaking Head Start Preschoolers

Author: Lisa J White

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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Executive functions (EF) are an important aspect of school readiness that have been shown to predict higher achievement in language, math, and science starting in the early years (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008; Nayfeld, Fuccillo, & Greenfield, 2013; Ponitz, McClelland, Matthews, & Morrison, 2009). Children who are bilingual have been shown to have enhanced EF skills when compared to their monolingual peers (Bialystok & Viswanathan, 2009; Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008; Poulin-Dubois, Blaye, Coutya, & Bialystok, 2011; Riggs, Shin, Unber, Spruijt-Metz, Pentz, 2013). While this association has been found among children of different ages, languages, and socioeconomic statuses, to date, no study has addressed this relationship in low-income bilingual Latino preschoolers, one of the fastest growing populations of children in the United States (Barrueco, Lopez, Ong, & Lozano, 2012). The current study examined the link between the degree of bilingualism and EF in a sample of 303 Spanish- and English-speaking Head Start preschoolers. Data on children's language ability and EF were collected. Results revealed that bilingual children performed better than monolingual children on EF, and that the degree of bilingualism predicted EF in the entire sample. Findings from this study offer new insights into both the language and cognitive development of young Latinos growing up in the United States. These findings can help inform teachers and policy-makers about the importance of fostering dual-language learning and executive functioning in preschool, especially in at-risk bilingual populations.

Verbal Ability, Bilingualism, and Executive Function Skills in Hispanic Preschoolers
Verbal Ability, Bilingualism, and Executive Function Skills in Hispanic Preschoolers

Author: Tatiana Nogueira Peredo

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13:

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Executive function skills have been related to children's academic achievement, yet little is known about early predictors of individual differences in executive function skills, particularly for young bilingual Hispanic children. This study examined associations among executive function skills, verbal abilities, and bilingualism in 39 Hispanic children attending an English immersion preschool. Children's lexical diversity and executive functioning skills were tested in both Spanish and English in the fall and spring of the academic year. Executive function skills were tested using the Head-to-Toes task created by Cameron Ponitiz and colleagues in 2008, and lexical diversity was measured using language sampling analysis of a narrative retell task. Children who had been in this preschool the year prior to their initial testing in the fall made greater gains in their executive functioning skills from fall to spring than children who were in their first year at the school, controlling for child age. Children who were productive bilinguals, defined as children who could produce an oral narrative in both Spanish and English, had better executive function skills than children who were monolingual speakers at the first time point. There was significant change in children's lexical diversity and their executive functioning ability from fall to spring, but only in English.

Relations Between Executive Functioning, Second Language Fluency, and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Early Childhood
Relations Between Executive Functioning, Second Language Fluency, and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Early Childhood

Author: Lindsey A. Hutchison

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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The current study explores relations between executive functioning (EF), degree of bilingualism, and externalizing behavior problems in a sample (N = 79) of 5- to 7-yearold monolingual (n = 33) and bilingual (n = 46) children. The bilingual group included both children who were fully fluent in two languages (balanced bilinguals; n = 17) and children who were still learning their second language (Dual Language Learners; DLLs; n = 29). The main components of EF included inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and planning/problem-solving skills. Parents and children came into the lab for a onetime, two-hour session. Parents completed surveys on children's language background, EF, and behavior problems while children worked with the researcher in a separate room. EF was measured with a go/no-go task (GNG), the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS), the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), the Simon task, and the Tower of London (TOL). Children's language proficiency in English and Spanish was measured with direct assessments. Results revealed no language group differences for simple inhibitory control (i.e. tasks that were more response-based in nature; GNG, HTKS), but the "bilingual advantage" was demonstrated for more complex inhibitory control (i.e. task that involved control of attention; Simon) and cognitive flexibility (DCCS). Bilinguals also demonstrated superior planning/problem-solving skills (TOL), an area with little prior research. Contrary to prior research, there was some evidence that DLLs had an advantage over monolinguals in interference control and cognitive flexibility. There was no evidence that EF mediated the relationship between language group and behavior problems. There was some evidence that the relationships between EF and behavior problems were stronger for balanced bilinguals compared to DLLs and monolinguals. Findings have important implications in light of the growing population of Spanish-English balanced bilinguals and DLLs in the U.S.

Language Development and Disorders in Spanish-speaking Children
Language Development and Disorders in Spanish-speaking Children

Author: Alejandra Auza Benavides

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-06-13

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 331953646X

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Prominent researchers from the US, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Spain contribute experimental reports on language development of children who are acquiring Spanish. The chapters cover a wide range of dimensions in acquisition: comprehension and production; monolingualism and bilingualism; typical development, children who are at risk and children with language disorders, phonology, semantics, and morphosyntax. These studies will inform linguistic theory development in clinical linguistics as well as offer insights on how language works in relation to cognitive functions that are associated with when children understand or use language. The unique data from child language offer perspectives that cannot be drawn from adult language. The first part is dedicated to the acquisition of Spanish as a first or second language by typically-developing children, the second part offers studies on children who are at risk of language delays, and the third part focuses on children with specific language impairment, disorders and syndromes.

The Development of Executive Function in Early Childhood
The Development of Executive Function in Early Childhood

Author: Philip David Zelazo

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13:

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This monograph concerns the psychological processes underlying the development of executive function, or the conscious control of thought and action. It has long been clear that these processes change considerably in early childhood, transforming a relatively stimulus-driven toddler into a child capable of flexible, goal-directed problem solving. However, the nature of these processes has remained elusive. In a programmatic series of 9 experiments, the authors examine circumstances that help or hinder executive function in 3- to 4-year-old children. The results provide the basis for a revision of their Cognitive Complexity and Control (CCC-r) theory, according to which there are age-related increases in the complexity of the rules that children can formulate and use when solving problems. The revised theory (a) specifies more clearly the circumstances in which children will have difficulty using rules at various levels of complexity, (b) provides a more detailed account of how to determine the complexity of rules required in a task, (c) takes account of both the activation and inhibition of rules as a function of experience, and (d) highlights the importance of considering intentionality in the study of executive function.

Translation Equivalents and Early Executive Function in Simultaneous Bilinguals
Translation Equivalents and Early Executive Function in Simultaneous Bilinguals

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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The rapid growth in multilingual speakers in United States has aroused attention to the development of this population, especially Spanish-English bilingual children. Despite controversy on enhanced executive function (EF) ability for bilingual speakers, recent research shows that this advantage emerges early and depends upon translation equivalents (TEs), which indicate the words with same referential meanings across languages. However, the early development of this advantage needs more exploration. First, the earliest age at which Spanish-English bilingual children have been tested previously was 6 years of age. Second, in 30-month-old French-English bilinguals, larger increase in TEs predicts better performance on set-shifting tasks. For this reason, TEs might index daily inhibitory practice. Another potential index, code-switching (CS) refers to the alternation between two languages while speaking. Whether CS also indexes inhibitory practice remains unknown. In sum, we are interested in how early this cognitive benefit emerges in Spanish-English bilingual toddlers and whether the acquisition of TEs or CS relates to early EF. The final sample included 59 monolingual English and 32 Spanish-English bilingual children. For monolinguals, the average exposure to English was 98.6%, and for bilinguals, the average exposure to their dominant language was 60.7%. Participants visited the lab at 23 and 30 months of age. The caregivers completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences: an established parent-report measure of expressive vocabulary. At 30 months of age, four EF tasks (Multilocation, Reverse Categorization, Shape Stroop, Gift Delay) were administered in children’s dominant language. Additionally, we recorded two free-play sessions, one in each language, in which the parent and the child played for 20 minutes. After controlling for SES, no performance difference was revealed across groups, in either EF task. However, after controlling for growth in Total Conceptual Vocabulary, growth in TEs significantly correlated with performance on the Stroop task. Also, CS from dominant to non-dominant language negatively correlated with performance on set-shifting tasks suggesting that CS does not index inhibitory practice. The present study supports the critical role that the TE acquisition plays in establishing this cognitive benefit and is the first to explore the relation between CS and EF.

Handbook of Early Language Education
Handbook of Early Language Education

Author: Mila Schwartz

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-03-30

Total Pages: 939

ISBN-13: 3030916626

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This is the first international and interdisciplinary handbook to offer a comprehensive and an in-depth overview of findings from contemporary research, theory, and practice in early childhood language education in various parts of the world and with different populations. The contributions by leading scholars and practitioners are structured to give a survey of the topic, highlight its importance, and provide a critical stance. The book covers preschool ages, and looks at children belonging to diverse ethno-linguistic groups and experiencing different histories and pathways of their socio-linguistic and socio-cultural development and early education. The languages under the scope of this handbook are identified by the contributors as immigrant languages, indigenous, endangered, heritage, regional, minority, majority, and marginalized, as well as foreign and second languages, all of which are discussed in relation to early language education as the key concept of the handbook. In this volume, “early language education” will refer to any kind of setting, both formal and informal (e.g. nursery, kindergarten, early childhood education centers, complementary early schooling etc.) in which language learning within a context of children's sociolinguistic diversity takes place before elementary school.

Theory of Mind, Executive Functioning and Language in Monolingual and Bilingual Preschool Children
Theory of Mind, Executive Functioning and Language in Monolingual and Bilingual Preschool Children

Author: Vanessa Diaz

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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ABSTRACT: Several cognitive factors have been documented to impact theory of mind (ToM) development, particularly false beliefs in preschool children, such as general language ability, syntactic comprehension, and executive functioning (EF). Most of these studies have examined these relations in monolingual children. However, bilingual children have been documented to perform better on EF tasks, but poorer on language tasks, which raises important issues regarding their ToM development. Two questions were of interest in the current study: Are there differences in bilingual-monolingual preschoolers on ToM, language, and EF? ; and (2) What is the role of language and EF in predicting ToM performance in these monolingual and bilingual groups? These questions were examined by comparing 32 Spanish-English bilinguals and 33 English monolinguals between the ages of 3 and 5 years of age. Even though monolinguals outperformed bilinguals on language measures, after controlling for language, bilinguals outperformed monolinguals on ToM. There were no differences between the groups on EF measures. Finally, after controlling for age, language ability was correlated to ToM performance in the monolingual group; no such relationship was present in the bilingual group.

The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education
The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education

Author: Nonie K. Lesaux

Publisher: Harvard Education Press

Published: 2021-02-23

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1612509193

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The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education aims to support the effort to simultaneously scale up and improve the quality of early childhood education by bringing together relevant insights from emerging research to provide guidance for this critical, fledgling field. It reflects the growing recognition that early childhood experiences have a powerful effect on children’s later academic achievement and long-term life outcomes. Editors Nonie K. Lesaux and Stephanie M. Jones bring together an impressive array of scholarly contributors. Topics include: · creating learning environments that support children’s cognitive and emotional development; · identifying and addressing early risk factors; · using data to guide educators’ practice; and · capitalizing on the use of technology. Recent years have seen a surge of local, state, and national initiatives aimed at expanding and improving early childhood initiatives, particularly regarding access to preK programs. The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education promises to be a valuable resource for those charged with enacting the next level of work in this critical area.