Memory Abilities and Vocabulary Knowledge in Catalan–Spanish Children With Developmental Language Disorder

The purpose of this study was to examine the memory abilities of bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). We compare groups across short-term, working memory, and declarative long-term systems in the verbal and nonverbal domains. The study also analyzes how memory abilities are related to children’s expressive and receptive vocabulary knowledge. Forty-eight Catalan–Spanish children with DLD (mean age = 8.10 years) and 57 typically developing (TD) controls (mean age = 9.1 years) participated in the study. A variety of memory tests were administered to assess components of verbal and nonverbal working and declarative (episodic and semantic) memory. Children with DLD were significantly less accurate than TD children at performing all short-term and working memory tasks. Group differences in verbal declarative memory disappeared when short-term/working memory was controlled for. With nonverbal declarative memory, group differences were found in immediate and delayed recall recognition even after nonverbal working memory was controlled for. Working and declarative memory scores were significant predictors of children’s expressive and receptive vocabulary knowledge. The findings of this study show that language difficulties in children with DLD have various relationships with different memory abilities. Clinical implications are also discussed.