Poster #109 - Language Proficiency and Executive Function in Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Language, Communication

Integrative Statement

Given that twenty-three percent of three- and four-year-olds enrolled in pre-k programs across the U.S. are dual language learners (DLLs) (NIEER, 2017), further research is needed on diversity within the population of DLLs regarding the range of language skills that children bring to early school experiences. Recent studies have indicated that DLLs are not a homogenous group and have identified subgroups of DLLs based on language proficiency or use of languages at home and at school (Kim, Lambert, & Burts, 2016; Choi, Jeon, & Lippard, 2018). Research has shown that bilingual children have higher performance and faster growth than their monolingual peers in some domains of executive function (EF), such as inhibitory control (Bialystok et al., 2005; Santillán & Khurana, 2018). Similar studies have demonstrated that DLL subgroups with limited English proficiency may not be experiencing the same positive outcomes in early cognitive development as their bilingual peers (Choi et al., 2018). The current study examined different patterns of English (i.e., sentence structure, word structure, expressive vocabulary) and Spanish (receptive and expressive vocabulary) skills among Spanish home language DLLs and investigated whether these differences impacted multiple domains of EF.
Method
Participants were selected from a broader longitudinal study that is following children in a Midwest urban setting from three years old (2016-17) through fourth grade (2022-23). The current study sample includes 378 DLLs with Spanish as a home language who attended a four-year-old pre-k program. The present study employed a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) using Mplus 8.1 to detect an underlying latent categorical variable which demonstrates sub-groups of DLLs given the profiles of their English and Spanish skills. Further, we used a 3-step approach, (BCH method), to examine whether EF skills differ by the profiled groups.
Measures
English language skills were measured through direct assessment using the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Preschool 2 (CELF-P2; Semel, Wiig & Secord, 2004). Spanish language skills were measured with the CELF-P2 Spanish (Wiig, Secord & Semel, 2009). Three domains of executive function were measured by the EF Touch (Willoughby et al., 2010), including working memory (Houses), inhibitory control (Silly Sounds) and cognitive flexibility (Something’s the Same).
Results and discussion
We found four classes (i.e., sub-groups) of DLLs (see Figure 1). These findings support the evidence of heterogeneity of DLLs demonstrated in current studies. The four classes showed significant differences in three EF domains. Specifically, class 4 representing proficiency in both languages demonstrated higher cognitive flexibility than the other three classes, higher working memory than classes 1 and 3, and higher inhibitory control than class 1. Overall, class 1 representing low language skills in both English and Spanish showed less development in all domains of EF skills than the other three groups. These results are consistent with other studies that have shown positive impacts of bilingualism on EF skills. Further description of differences among DLL sub-groups is needed, with particular attention to children with low skills across languages who may be at higher risk for low EF than their DLL peers.

Authors

• April Dericks, University of Oklahoma Tulsa
  Presenting Author

• Shinyoung Jeon, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Latta, University of Oklahoma
  Non-Presenting Author

• Gigi Luk, McGill University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sherri Castle, University of Oklahoma Tulsa
  Non-Presenting Author