When words lead to solutions: executive function deficits in preschool children with specific language impairment.
Preschoolers with SLI already lag in executive function, so pair language goals with EF supports from the start.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Roello et al. (2015) compared preschoolers with specific language impairment to same-age peers. They gave each child three quick games that test executive function: planning a route, remembering new rules, and building a picture in their head.
The kids were around four and a half years old. No extra teaching was given; the team just wanted to see who already struggled.
What they found
Children with SLI scored much lower on every game. Problems showed up as early as 53 months.
The gap was big enough that a teacher could spot it without fancy math.
How this fits with other research
Vugs et al. (2014) ran almost the same check one year earlier and got the same result. They added working-memory tests and found the same kids were weak there too. Together the two papers form a solid red flag: preschool SLI rarely travels alone.
Kalliontzi et al. (2022) repeated the idea with Greek-speaking four-year-olds who have developmental language disorder, the newer name for SLI. Lower executive function scores popped up again, showing the link is not just an English quirk.
Spanoudis et al. (2011) looked at older SLI kids, aged 8-11, and still saw memory and planning gaps. Their data stretch the timeline: the weakness does not fade with age; it just changes shape.
Why it matters
If you screen a preschooler for language delays, tack on two quick EF games the same day. A low score tells you to build supports like visual schedules, shorter instructions, and rehearsal chains into the language plan. Catching the double deficit early stops later academic frustration.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Several studies indicate that school-age children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulties with tasks that rely on executive functions. Whether executive function deficits in children with SLI emerge during preschool age remains unclear. Our aim was to fill this gap by investigating executive function performances in two age groups of preschoolers with and without SLI. Children with SLI (N=60; young: 53.6±5.3 months; old: 65.4±3.8 months) and age-matched control children (N=58) were tested for problem-representation ability, using the Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST), rule-use skills, using a Stroop-like Day-Night test (D/N), and planning skills, using the Tower of London test (TOL). Older children performed better than younger children did across tasks. Children with SLI had poorer performance, compared to typically developing children, on measures of problem representation, planning skills, and use of rules. Our results clearly indicate that executive function impairment is evident during the preschool period. Although old children with SLI performed better than young children with SLI, their performances were still poor, compared to those of control peers. These findings suggest that children with SLI have altered executive functioning at 53.6 months.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.11.017