Contributions of verbal and executive processes on cognitive and academic performance in monolingual and bilingual elementary students

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Both language abilities and executive functions (EF) predict problem solving abilities and academic performance in elementary students. This implies a complex situation with regard to bilingual children: On the one hand, there is evidence for a bilingual advantage with regard to EF. On the other hand, bilingual children are frequently outperformed by their monolingual peers with regard to both language abilities (e.g., vocabulary in each language) and academic success. Based on this state of research, the proposed project has two aims: In project part A, we will investigate the relationships between language status (monolingual versus bilingual), language abilities, and EF, as well as their distinct and joint contributions to academic performance in monolingual and bilingual children. In particular, we will examine the suggestion that children with good language abilities (among whom monolingual children can be considered to be overrepresented as compared to bilingual children) might be able to compensate, at least partially, for disadvantages in EF. Further, previous research suggests that the contribution of language abilities to academic performance might in part result from the fact that children with advantaged language abilities might be able to increase their performance in tasks with high EF demands (such as problem solving tasks and many academic tasks) by using verbal self-instructions. In project part B, we will examine relationships between language abilities, use of verbal self-instructions, and performance in tasks with high EF demands. Both quality and quantity of verbal self-instructions will be analyzed. Furthermore, we will investigate whether a training in using verbal self-instructions might improve children's performance in tasks with high EF demands.