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

Kerry Danahy Ebert

Abstract readReview

In one paragraph

Review in Brain and language, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Kerry Danahy EbertDepartment of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 115 Shevlin Hall, 164 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA. Electronic address: kebert@umn.edu.

Funding

Nonlinguistic cognitive processing commonalities among linguistically diverse learners with developmental language disorderR01DC019613 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI EBERT, KERRY DANAHY · 2021 to 2025

$1.9M

Reliability and Validity of Dynamic and Processing-based Assessments for Language in Diverse Bilingual School-age ChildrenR01DC019895 · NIDCD · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI Kerry Danahy Ebert · 2023 to 2026

$1.5M

NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC019613NIDCD NIH HHS R01 DC019895

6 · The paper itself

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.

Indexed as

Language DevelopmentMemory, Short-TermMultilingualismChildHumansLanguage Development DisordersChildrenCognitionDevelopmental language disorderExecutive functionImpairment

Identifiers

PMID40737739

DOI10.1016/j.bandl.2025.105628

PMCPMC12320785

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.