This study examined the linguistic and cognitive characteristics of two groups of Italian preschoolers with developmental language disorder (DLD): one group of monolingual Italian speakers and another of Italian-Slovenian bilinguals. The assessment focused on executive functions (EFs) (i.e., phonological working memory and inhibitory control) and linguistic abilities, which involved a multilevel analysis of discourse production. The bilingual group outperformed the monolingual group on tasks measuring EFs. While the two groups showed similar performance across several linguistic measures, the bilingual children demonstrated superior grammatical comprehension, albeit with high variability. A similar level of variability was observed in the bilingual group’s phonological discrimination abilities. Both grammatical comprehension and phonological discrimination were significantly correlated with EFs. These findings are discussed in the context of current theories of linguistic development in bilingual children with DLD.

Prospective memory can be defined as the timely execution of a previously formed intention, and is critical in daily life because of its inherent involvement in goal-directed behavior. Cognitive systems involved in prospective memory have been hypothesized as involving the frontal cortex, and in adults, associated with working memory and executive functions. This study introduces a new computerized measure of prospective memory designed for children. In this study prospective memory is examined in a driving game task called the CyberCruiser. In a sample of 80 children ages 6–12 years, variables from this task demonstrated a significant age effect and were significantly correlated with other well known measures of executive function, even after controlling for chronological age. Performance on this task also demonstrated the anticipated pattern of strategic monitoring that has been demonstrated in other studies of prospective memory. (JINS, 2000, 6, 62–70.)