Working Memory and Linguistic Performance of Dual Language Learners With and Without Developmental Language Disorders.

Purpose This research note describes the use of working memory measures as potential indicators of developmental language disorders (DLD) in preschool-age dual language learners from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. This report is an extension of early work, completed by the same authors that described the diagnostic accuracy of a Spanish nonword repetition task. Method One hundred thirty Spanish-speaking families with preschool-age children participated; 37 children had DLD, and 93 were typically developing.

Neuropsychological correlates of word identification in Down syndrome.

In order to better understand the neuropsychological underpinnings of the relative strength in word identification in individuals with Down syndrome, the performance of children and adolescents with Down syndrome (N=29) was compared to the performance of a nonverbal-IQ matched group of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities of mixed etiologies (N=20) on measures letter/word identification and cognitive-linguistic functioning. Though no between-group differences were observed for letter/word identification or visual processing performance, individuals with Down syndrome showed significantly poorer verbal short-term memory and receptive vocabulary skills. In terms of neuropsychological correlates of letter/word identification, significant linear associations were observed between letter/word identification (K-ABC reading/decoding) and verbal short-term memory (K-ABC number recall), as well as receptive vocabulary (PPVT-III) and visual processing (MVPT-R) in both groups.