Abstract Does the commonly reported math achievement gap among elementary school monolingual and English learners (ELs) with and without math difficulties reflect variations in executive processing? This cohort-sequential study (N = 841) explored the cognitive processes that underlie in elementary school children’s math computational growth who are monolingual (English-only) or English learners with Spanish as a first language. Three language subgroups (proficient ELs [relatively proficient in both English and Spanish vocabulary], less proficient ELs [more proficient in English when compared to Spanish vocabulary] and monolingual [English-only]) children with and without math difficulties (MD) were compared on measures of math computation and cognitive growth. As expected, children with MD identified at wave 1 underperformed children without MD in their rate of growth and their level of computational and working memory (WM) performance in the final testing wave. However, two additional findings occurred. First, executive processing measures (working memory and inhibition) were significantly related to computational growth even when measures of reading, fluid intelligence, STM, naming speed and SES were partialed in the analysis. Second, no statistical advantages in executive processing or computation emerged in favor of EL children relative to monolingual children. Taken together, the results support the notion that (a) growth in math computation is tied to growth in the executive system and (b) EL children relatively proficient in English and Spanish experience no growth advantages in WM or computation compared to monolingual children.

中文翻译：

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有或没有数学困难的单语和英语学习者的执行处理和计算增长之间的关系：双语是否有帮助？

摘要 有或没有数学困难的小学单语和英语学习者 (ELs) 普遍报告的数学成绩差距是否反映了执行处理的差异？这项队列顺序研究 (N = 841) 探讨了作为单语（仅英语）或以西班牙语为第一语言的英语学习者的小学生数学计算增长基础的认知过程。三个语言亚组（精通 EL [相对精通英语和西班牙语词汇]、不太精通的 EL [与西班牙语词汇相比更精通英语]和单语 [仅英语]）有和没有数学困难 (MD) 的儿童进行了比较关于数学计算和认知增长的措施。正如预期的那样，在第 1 波中确定的患有 MD 的儿童在最终测试波中的生长速度以及计算和工作记忆 (WM) 水平方面的表现低于没有 MD 的儿童。然而，出现了另外两个发现。首先，即使在分析中偏向于阅读、流体智力、STM、命名速度和 SES 的测量，执行处理测量（工作记忆和抑制）与计算增长显着相关。其次，相对于单语儿童，在执行处理或计算方面没有出现有利于 EL 儿童的统计优势。综合起来，