WPPSI-IV and NEPSY-II Performance in Mono- and Bilingual 5–6-year-old children

Language background plays a role in children’s neurocognitive development. Knowledge on these effects is important as bilingualism is common. However, research regarding language background in relation to performance on common cognitive test batteries such as WPPSIIV and NEPSY-II is scarce. The present study compared WPPSI-IV and NEPSY-II performances in 5–6-year-old Swedish-speaking monolingual (n = 45) and Swedish-Finnishspeaking simultaneous bilingual (n = 34) children in Finland. The participants were gathered by stratified sampling and were assessed with the Swedish versions of the test batteries. Profile analyses showed that monolinguals performed overall better than bilinguals on the WPPSI-IV. A significant monolingual advantage was found in some WPPSI-IV subtests and indexes requiring expressive vocabulary (Vocabulary, Similarities, Picture Naming, and Vocabulary Acquisition Index) and visuospatial skills (Object Assembly and Visuospatial Index). No group differences were found between mono- and bilingual children in receptive language, visual memory, fluid intelligence, processing speed, or some visuospatial tasks. Additionally, no differences were found in the Full Scale IQ. The bilinguals significantly improved their performance on the WPPSI-IV subtest Similarities, when answers in both Swedish and Finnish were accounted for. In accordance with earlier research conducted in Finland, no significant differences were found between mono- and bilinguals in language and memory tasks of the NEPSY-II. These findings highlight the importance of considering the child’s language background when assessing expressive language and the possible benefits of assessing bilinguals in both of their languages