Variations in phonological working memory: The contribution of impaired representation and bilingual processing

Children with bilingual typical language development (BITLD) and children with specific language impairment (SLI) present similarities in their linguistic performance (e.g., vocabulary and verb inflections). These observed similarities (Paradis 2010) have led to an influx of studies exploring the sources of these similarities and pointing to areas of disparity aiming to dissociate the effects of SLI and bilingualism in bilingual children with SLI (BISLI). The intriguing link, explored in the Pierce et al. (2017) keynote, between early language experience and the development of phonological working memory (PWM) seamlessly ties into this discussion. Bilinguals, and particularly simultaneous bilinguals, it is claimed, experience an enriched linguistic environment in early childhood that is expected to enhance their PWM. By contrast, children with SLI are claimed to have a neurocognitive impairment that negatively affects their PWM. This commentary explores, first, how both age of onset (AoO) of bilingual exposure and the neurocognitive impairment associated with SLI impact PWM and, second, how this impact might be related to the observed similarities as well as evident differences that emerge from studies comparing children with BITLD to children with SLI (monolingual and bilingual).