Working memory and language: A latent variable longitudinal study

The relationship between working memory, phonological awareness, and developing language
skills was explored longitudinally in children growing up in a multilingual society. A sample of 121 children from Luxembourg were followed
from kindergarten to first grade, and completed multiple assessments of
working memory, phonological awareness, native and foreign vocabulary
knowledge, language comprehension, and reading. Relations between the
measures were best characterized by a model consisting of two related but
separable constructs—corresponding to verbal short-term memory and the
central executive—that were distinct from phonological awareness. Assessments of verbal short-term memory in kindergarten significantly predicted
vocabulary knowledge and comprehension in native and foreign languages
1 year later: Central executive and verbal short-term memory measures in
kindergarten were significantly associated with reading in first grade, and
phonological awareness did not predict any of the language constructs.