Examining the relation between non-English home-language, executive functioning, and school readiness

Self-regulation skills are key for students to succeed in school. Self-regulation is also closely related to executive functioning (EF) skills, which are cognitive abilities necessary for focusing attention and adapting to context dependent changes in pursuit of a goal. Bilingual children may have an advantage over their monolingual peers in EF. However, it is not clear if this is true among emergent bilingual students. This study examined whether exposure to a non-English language at home predicted impulsivity and inattention in the preschool classroom, and whether it does so indirectly through EF skills. Families where English is not the only language spoken at home, at least some of the time, with a three- to five-year-old preschooler were recruited for this study. The NIH Toolbox Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) test and the NIH Toolbox Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention test were used to measure EF. NIH Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (PVT) measured receptive vocabulary in English. Parent reports indicated what languages are spoken at home. Teachers completed the ADHD symptoms scale of the MacArthur Health and Behavior Questionnaire, which measured inattention and impulsivity. Non-English language exposure was not significantly related to DCCS, Flanker, or ADHD symptoms scale scores. PVT scores did not interact with Non-English language exposure to predict DCCS or Flanker scores. DCCS scores were positively related to ADHD symptoms scores. Methodological considerations regarding the results are discussed.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference