Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children

Background. Mastering a frst language at school is mediated by the regulatory abilities of pupils. An open question is how the executive functions implementing conscious self-regulation are related to language competences. Objective. To study the relationship between basic executive functions (swit...

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Main Authors: Boris B. Velichkovsky, Irina N. Bondarenko, Varvara I. Morosanova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University 2019-03-01
Series:Psychology in Russia: State of Art
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psychologyinrussia.com/volumes/pdf/2019_1/psych_1_2019_8_Velichkovsky.pdf
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author Boris B. Velichkovsky
Irina N. Bondarenko
Varvara I. Morosanova
author_facet Boris B. Velichkovsky
Irina N. Bondarenko
Varvara I. Morosanova
author_sort Boris B. Velichkovsky
collection DOAJ
description Background. Mastering a frst language at school is mediated by the regulatory abilities of pupils. An open question is how the executive functions implementing conscious self-regulation are related to language competences. Objective. To study the relationship between basic executive functions (switching, inhibition, working memory updating, and error correction) and language competences. Design. A sample of 104 Russian middle school children (aged 13–15 years) performed three cognitive tasks assessing basic executive functions and two tasks assessing language competences in the areas of punctuation, spelling, morphology, syntax, semantics, vocabulary, and style. Results. Inhibition was mostly related to punctuation, spelling, and morphology competences and was most important in the frst competences task, requiring the recognition of errors. Switching was mostly related to the competences in syntax, refecting the importance of switching attention between alternative syntactic structures. Working memory updating was the most important executive function related to language competences, with a heavy focus on higher-level lexical, semantic, and stylistic competences. Te role of updating was especially important in the second competences task, which required generation of well-formed sentences. Error correction was mostly relevant for the recognition of language errors. Conclusion. While inhibition and switching afect aspects of constructing the surface form of a sentence, working memory is preferentially related to the construction of semantically appropriate sentences. Error monitoring and correction are generally related to the recognition of language errors. Conscious self-regulation and its cognitive mechanisms are systematically related to the development of native language competences in middle school.
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spelling doaj.art-e280aed16d174cc58445c2df650972672022-12-22T03:21:33ZengM.V. Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityPsychology in Russia: State of Art2074-68572307-22022019-03-0112110411710.11621/pir.2019.0108Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School ChildrenBoris B. Velichkovsky0Irina N. Bondarenko1Varvara I. Morosanova2Moscow State University, Moscow, RussiaPsychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, RussiaPsychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, Moscow, RussiaBackground. Mastering a frst language at school is mediated by the regulatory abilities of pupils. An open question is how the executive functions implementing conscious self-regulation are related to language competences. Objective. To study the relationship between basic executive functions (switching, inhibition, working memory updating, and error correction) and language competences. Design. A sample of 104 Russian middle school children (aged 13–15 years) performed three cognitive tasks assessing basic executive functions and two tasks assessing language competences in the areas of punctuation, spelling, morphology, syntax, semantics, vocabulary, and style. Results. Inhibition was mostly related to punctuation, spelling, and morphology competences and was most important in the frst competences task, requiring the recognition of errors. Switching was mostly related to the competences in syntax, refecting the importance of switching attention between alternative syntactic structures. Working memory updating was the most important executive function related to language competences, with a heavy focus on higher-level lexical, semantic, and stylistic competences. Te role of updating was especially important in the second competences task, which required generation of well-formed sentences. Error correction was mostly relevant for the recognition of language errors. Conclusion. While inhibition and switching afect aspects of constructing the surface form of a sentence, working memory is preferentially related to the construction of semantically appropriate sentences. Error monitoring and correction are generally related to the recognition of language errors. Conscious self-regulation and its cognitive mechanisms are systematically related to the development of native language competences in middle school.http://psychologyinrussia.com/volumes/pdf/2019_1/psych_1_2019_8_Velichkovsky.pdfconscious self-regulationexecutive functionsnative language learninglanguage competencessecondary school
spellingShingle Boris B. Velichkovsky
Irina N. Bondarenko
Varvara I. Morosanova
Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children
Psychology in Russia: State of Art
conscious self-regulation
executive functions
native language learning
language competences
secondary school
title Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children
title_full Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children
title_fullStr Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children
title_full_unstemmed Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children
title_short Te Relationship Between Executive Functions and Language Competences in Middle School Children
title_sort te relationship between executive functions and language competences in middle school children
topic conscious self-regulation
executive functions
native language learning
language competences
secondary school
url http://psychologyinrussia.com/volumes/pdf/2019_1/psych_1_2019_8_Velichkovsky.pdf
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AT irinanbondarenko terelationshipbetweenexecutivefunctionsandlanguagecompetencesinmiddleschoolchildren
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