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Aim: This study aimed to examine the executive function and metalinguistic performance of children who were extremely low birthweight (ELBW) compared to their peers at 4.5-5.5 years of age. Methods: Thirty ELBW children and 50 controls matched for age and sex were enrolled in the study. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised and the Draw a Man Test were used as indicators of general ability, and a grammatic closure task provided and indication of language skills. Three tests ofEF were used, namely the Tower of Hanoi task (TOH), the Tapping Test and the Finger Sequencing task. Metalinguistic performance was also measured using the sound blending and the rhyming tasks. Results: The ELBW children who were 'apparently normal' (n=22) (scoring within 1 SD from the mean of the PPVT-R) scored significantly lower in all tests of EF, though metalinguistic and general language performance was similar to that of the control group. There was a significant association between poor performance in EF tasks and chronic neonatal lung disease. Conclusions: Deficits in EF performance can be identified in preschool children who had extremely low birthweight. These deficits may be associated with the increased prevalence of learning difficulty reported in this population in the literature. The association between attention, memory, EF and their possible association with later learning performance needs further investigation.