College of Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA.
College of Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
Ann Dyslexia. 2023 Apr;73(1):29-52. doi: 10.1007/s11881-022-00272-2. Epub 2022 Oct 8.
Although the important role of children's executive function (EF) in their reading development has been well-established, less is known about the extent to which multilingual children's EF components vary and whether the variability in different EF abilities explains multilingual children's English reading achievement. The present study explored the US first-grade multilingual children's (N = 3,819) profiles of EF abilities and how the profile membership was associated with their English reading achievement, using a nationally representative sample of multilingual children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K: 2011) study. We fit latent profile analysis with various EF components, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, approaches to learning, and attentional focus, and found three distinct EF profiles in multilingual children: (a) Below-Average EFs with Above-Average Cognitive Flexibility (10.13%), (b) Above-Average EFs (84.09%), and (c) Very Low Cognitive Flexibility (5.78%). Controlling for kindergarten English reading achievement scores and demographic variables, children in the Above-Average EFs profile attained a significantly higher English reading achievement score than their peers, while children in the Very Low Cognitive Flexibility group had the lowest English reading achievement score. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding multilingual children's heterogeneity in EF and have implications for the early identification of and tailored intervention for multilingual children at risk for reading difficulties.
尽管儿童执行功能（EF）在其阅读发展中的重要作用已得到充分证实，但对于多种语言儿童的 EF 成分的差异程度以及不同 EF 能力的变异性是否可以解释多种语言儿童的英语阅读成绩知之甚少。本研究使用来自 2010-11 年幼儿纵向研究幼儿园班（ECLS-K：2011）的具有代表性的多种语言儿童样本，探讨了美国一年级多种语言儿童（N=3819）的 EF 能力特征，以及这种特征与他们的英语阅读成绩之间的关系。我们使用各种 EF 成分（包括工作记忆、认知灵活性、抑制控制、学习方法和注意力集中）进行潜在剖面分析，发现多种语言儿童中有三种不同的 EF 特征：（a）认知灵活性高于平均水平的 EF 低于平均水平（10.13%），（b）EF 高于平均水平（84.09%），和（c）认知灵活性非常低（5.78%）。在控制了幼儿园英语阅读成绩分数和人口统计学变量后，EF 高于平均水平特征组的儿童英语阅读成绩显著高于其同龄人，而认知灵活性非常低特征组的儿童英语阅读成绩最低。我们的研究结果强调了理解多种语言儿童 EF 异质性的重要性，并对早期识别和针对有阅读困难风险的多种语言儿童进行个性化干预具有启示意义。
