How Is Working Memory Related to Reading Comprehension in Italian Monolingual and Bilingual Children?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Working memory is crucial for complex cognitive tasks like reading comprehension.
• Specific working memory components, including phonological store, central executive interaction, and episodic buffer, play distinct roles.
• Understanding these roles is vital for both monolingual and bilingual children's literacy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the contribution of specific working memory resources to reading comprehension in monolingual and bilingual children.
• To examine the relationship between working memory components, text decoding, and listening comprehension.
• To identify differences in these relationships between monolingual and bilingual children.

Main Methods:

• Participants included 62 monolingual and 36 bilingual children (mean age 9 years).
• Working memory was assessed using tasks measuring phonological store maintenance, working memory interaction (WMI), and immediate narrative memory.
• Reading comprehension was evaluated alongside text decoding (reading speed, accuracy) and listening comprehension.

Main Results:

• Reading accuracy and listening comprehension were significant predictors of reading comprehension for both groups.
• Working memory interaction (WMI) and immediate narrative memory showed indirect effects on reading comprehension via reading accuracy and listening comprehension, respectively.
• These indirect effects were significant only for monolingual children.

Conclusions:

• Working memory components differentially contribute to reading comprehension, with indirect pathways observed in monolinguals.
• Bilingual children's reading comprehension may rely on different cognitive mechanisms or be influenced by language experience.
• Findings highlight the need for tailored educational strategies considering working memory and language background.