Executive control in language production by children with and without language impairment

Abstract

Background Accumulating evidence suggests that the updating, inhibiting and shifting abilities underlying executive control are important for spoken language production in adults. However, little is known about this in children. Aims To examine whether children with and without language impairment differ in all or only some of these executive abilities, and whether they show corresponding differences when these abilities are engaged in language production. Methods & Procedures Thirty‐three children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 41 typically developing (TD) children (age matched, aged 8–12 years) completed standard executive control tests that measure the updating, inhibiting and shifting abilities. All children were native speakers of Dutch. Moreover, they performed a noun–phrase production task involving picture description within a picture–word interference paradigm. We measured their production accuracy and speed to assess length, distractor and switch effects, which reflect the updating, inhibiting and shifting abilities underlying executive control. Outcomes & Results Compared with TD children, the children with SLI had lower scores on all executive control tests. Moreover, they were overall slower and made more errors in the noun–phrase production task. Additionally, the magnitude of the distractor and switch effects was larger for the SLI than for the TD group. Conclusions & Implications The results suggest that children with SLI have impaired language production and executive control abilities, and that some of the differences in the executive control abilities between SLI and TD groups were reflected in their language production.

Beyond the Senses: How Self-Directed Speech and Word Meaning Structure Impact Executive Functioning and Theory of Mind in Individuals With Hearing and Language Problems

“…This is corroborated by longitudinal relationships between language, on the one hand, and EF and ToM, on the other (Milligan et al, 2007;Slot and von Suchodoletz, 2018). Note that these relations are likely bidirectional, as EF and ToM have also been shown to support language development (e.g., Loosli et al, 2012; for children with DLD see Sikora et al, 2019). Here, we theoretically explore only the mechanisms underlying the first direction of causality.…”

Voluntary and cued language switching in late bilingual speakers

“…Sikora and colleagues also studied within-language switching (Sikora & Roelofs, 2018;Sikora et al, 2016aSikora et al, , 2016bSikora et al, , 2019. They designed a picture naming task in which participants produced short (e.g., chair) or long noun phrases (e.g., green chair) and were cued to switch between these phrases.…”

Cognitive and Linguistic Predictors of Language Control in Bilingual Children

“…In addition, children with low language may also tend to have lower cognitive control skills. Deficits in inhibition and/or shifting, which are the components of cognitive control most associated with language control, have been demonstrated in both monolingual children with DLD (e.g., Marton, 2008;Spaulding, 2010;Farrant et al, 2012;Henry et al, 2012;Epstein et al, 2014;Kapa and Plante, 2015;Roello et al, 2015;Vissers et al, 2015;Pauls and Archibald, 2016;Sikora et al, 2019) and bilingual children with low language or a diagnosis of DLD (e.g., Iluz-Cohen and Armon-Lotem, 2013;Engel, de Abreu et al, 2014;Sandgren and Holmstrom, 2015;Pauls and Archibald, 2016), although findings have been somewhat mixed with regard to shifting (e.g., Dibbets et al, 2006;Im-Bolter et al, 2006;Laloi, 2015). Therefore, it is possible that low cognitive control could have a negative effect on language control in children with low language, but these effects may be difficult to separate from the effects of limited language ability.…”