Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 29:269:105628.
doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105628. Online ahead of print.

Does working memory independently influence language development in bilingual children? A 30-year reflection

Kerry Danahy Ebert  1
Affiliations

Does working memory independently influence language development in bilingual children? A 30-year reflection

Kerry Danahy Ebert. Brain Lang. .

Abstract

In 1992, Harrington posited that working memory is a key constraint on the development of a second language in adults but noted that stronger evidence is needed to establish its independent influence on language. In this paper, I reflect on advances in the study of working memory in bilinguals over the intervening 30 years, focusing on bilingual children. I consider theoretical and methodological changes that avoid confounding language and working memory. Empirical work on the role of working memory in bilingual language development is reviewed, noting that much recent work on this topic considers how language could shape working memory, rather than vice versa. I also discuss evidence from bilingual children with developmental language disorder, a population whose language weaknesses have been partly attributed to working memory constraints. Unifying evidence across bilingual populations - including adults and children, and typical and atypical language learners -is important to continue the field's advancement.

Keywords: Children; Cognition; Developmental language disorder; Executive function; Impairment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The author declares that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Adams RL, & Delaney PF (2022). Long-term working memory and language comprehension. In Schwieter JW & Wen Z. (Edward) (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language (pp. 98–119). Cambridge University Press.
    1. Andreou M, Tsimpli IM, Masoura E, & Agathopoulou E (2021). Cognitive mechanisms of monolingual and bilingual children in monoliterate educational settings: Evidence from sentence repetition. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 613992. 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613992 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baddeley A (1996). Exploring the central executive. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 49(1), 5–28. 10.1080/027249896392784 - DOI
    1. Baddeley A, & Hitch G (1974). Working memory. In Bower G (Ed.), The Psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. III) (pp. 47–89). Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.12.014 - DOI
    1. Bialystok E, & Craik FI (2022). How does bilingualism modify cognitive function? Attention to the mechanism. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 29(4), 1246–1269. 10.3758/s13423-022-02057-5 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources