Executive function (EF) is known as an umbrella term for cognitive processes such as organizing and controlling behavior and thoughts. EF abilities have been shown different performances between individuals in monolingual children with and without lan... Executive function (EF) is known as an umbrella term for cognitive processes such as organizing and controlling behavior and thoughts. EF abilities have been shown different performances between individuals in monolingual children with and without language impairments. Also, previous studies proved bilingual children show better performance than monolingual children in EF tasks. Moreover, speaking two different languages provides advantages in EF abilities to bilingual children. However, EF is not a single subject to allow developing language processes, but there are several sub-contents. The three sub-contents, shift, inhibition, and working memory, are called target functions and those are developed in different way and period of life. Developing EF and correlation between language abilities and EF of children is still controversial and many different studies show different aspects of EF. The purpose of this study is to find out that two categories (nonverbal and verbal) of executive functions by sub-contents (shifting, inhibition, and working memory) show different performance among groups (monolingual TD, monolingual LD, and bilingual TD), also to figure out the correlations between two language tasks (receptive vocabulary and sentence repetition) and six sub-contents of executive functions. Therefore, the research questions are (1) is there significant differentiation categories of executive functions among three groups? (2) is there significant correlation between sub-contents of executive function tasks and language tasks in groups? Total of 36 children aged from 5 to 7 were participated in this study. Twelve monolingual typically developing children (MTD; male 8, felame 4), 12 monolingual language delayed (MLD; male 8, felame 4), and 12 Korean-English bilingual typically developing children (BTD; male 7, female 5) were aged matched. Language time table was used to distinguish groups by language uses in monolingual and bilingual. Parent s was administered to eliminate children with physically and psychological disabilities. Korean vocabulary test (Receptive, expressive vocabulary test; REVT) for receptive vocabulary ability and sentence repetition (SR) task were administered to measure language abilities. English based receptive vocabulary test and English sentence repetition tasks (ESR) were additionally administered for bilingual children. Conceptual scoring for both Korean and English receptive vocabulary tests was used for bilingual children. Total 6 executive function tasks were administered to compare two categories by three sub-contents which are shifting, inhibition, and working memory. DCCS (Dimensional Change Card Sort), and Animal Shifting task were administered for nonverbal and verbal shifting abilities. SST (Stop Signal Task), and Verbal Inhibition task were administered for nonverbal and verbal inhibition abilities. Finally, Matrix-backward and CLPT (Competing Language Processing Tasks) were administered for nonverbal and verbal working memory abilities. Two-way mixed ANOVA was used for group differences by categories of executive function (nonverbal and verbal), and Pearson’s correlation coefficient was adopted to analyze correlation between executive function tasks and language abilities (receptive vocabulary, and sentence repetition). The results of the present study are as follows. First, there is a significant differentiation of categories of executive functions among groups. Second, there is significant correlation between executive function tasks and language abilities in BTD. Korean conceptual receptive vocabulary and nonverbal working memory were correlated, and Korean sentence repetition task and nonverbal and verbal working memory shows significant correlates in BTD. Also, there is a significant correlation between English sentence repetition task and nonverbal shift of executive function tasks. However, there is no significant correlation between executive function and language in both MTD and MLD. Therefore, the results of executive function tasks showed that the different aspects among three groups, but they showed better performances in verbal executive function tasks than non-verbal ones, which means executive function could be affected by language abilities. Also, correlations between language abilities and executive function tasks in Korean-English bilingual children prove that not only language tests but non-standardized tasks of executive function could be tools for assessing bilingual children in Korea. ，韩语论文，韩语论文网站 |
