This study investigates relationships between language abilities and executive functions (EFs) in bilingual minority children in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, many cultural minority children learn the minority language at home and acquire Dutch, the majority language, later when they go to nursery or elementary school. Simultaneous bilingual children who are proficient in both languages have been found to have certain advantages over monolingual children in their EFs allowing them, for example, to be faster at suppressing inappropriate responses or controlling their attention (Barac & Bialystok, 2011; Adesope, Thompson & Ungerleider, 2010).

         However, it is unknown whether children in a situation of emerging bilingualism, such as minority children, develop similar cognitive advantages. Minority children are often less fluent in Dutch than children who have been exposed to Dutch from birth. Therefore, they may be confused with children who have an impairment specific to language - Specific Language Impairment (SLI). In contrast to bilingual children, children with SLI have poorer EFs than typically developing children (Lum & Bavin, 2007; Im-Bolter, Johnson & Pascual-Leone, 2006). Therefore, assessment of EF has the potential to help diagnosis of SLI in minority children whose expression in the majority language raises concerns.

         This study will systematically investigate bilingual minority children with and without SLI, and monolingual children with and without SLI in the Netherlands. The four groups of children will be compared with respect to their language abilities and EFs. To capture effects of emerging bilingualism, the study takes a developmental approach covering all elementary school years. This research will make a significant contribution by revealing whether or not bilingual minority children have an advantage over monolingual children in EF, identifying relationships between the level of bilingualism and EF, and showing whether or not EFs provide a reliable indicator of language impairment in minority children.

References

Adesope, O.O., Lavin, T., Thompson, T. & Ungerleider, C. (2010). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Cognitive Correlates of Bilingualism. Review of Educational Research, 80, 207-245.

Barac, R. & Bialystok, E. (2011). Research timeline: Cognitive development of bilingual children. Language Teaching, 44, 36-54.

Im-Bolter, N., Johnson, J. & Pascual-Leone, J. (2006). Processing limitations in children with specific language impairment: the role of executive function. Child Development, 77, 1822-1841.

Lum, J.A.G. & Bavin, E.L. (2007). Analysis and control in children with SLI. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 50, 1618-1630.

This study investigates relationships between language abilities and cognitive control in bilingual minority children in the Netherlands. The aim is to better understand the cognitive effects of bilingualism and to disentangle effects of bilingualism and Developmental Language Disorder.

• dr. Tessel Boerma
• prof. dr. Elma Blom
• prof. dr. Paul Leseman
• prof. dr. Frank Wijnen