What is it about?
Executive functions are established as vital in learning, as well as in the development of psycholinguistic skills crucial to learning a second language. The present study analyzes relationships between variables linked to executive functioning and to academic achievement in English as a foreign language (EFL). The participants were 519 primary school students between the ages of 10 and 12. The results show a tendency to greater sustained and selective attention and consequently better attention control and concentration on task when academic achievement in English was higher. Our discriminant analysis verifies that sustained and selective attention, attention deficit, and concentration on task explain and predict group membership in EFL achievement groups (low, medium, and high achievement). It is important to plan activities to develop executive functioning, alongside the regular curriculum content, in order to improve learning and acquisition of psycholinguistic skills, the foundation for bilingualism or second-language learning.
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Why is it important?
The study analyzes the relationship between learning English as a foreign language and executive functioning, specifically attention, in Spanish primary school children (ages 10 to 12). This work provides empirical evidence on how executive functions, particularly sustained and selective attention, are linked to academic performance in the English subject. It scientifically demonstrates how executive cognitive processes affect foreign language learning, which can guide educational strategies to increase academic success in this area from an early age. Thus, it contributes to strengthening the foundations for educational programs that integrate both curricular aspects and executive skills to enhance the learning of languages and other subjects
Perspectives
My perspective focuses on providing empirical evidence to understand the relationship between learning English as a foreign language and executive functioning, especially attention, in Spanish primary school children. I approach the topic from an analytical and applied viewpoint, aiming to show how executive functions, such as sustained and selective attention, directly influence academic performance in English. This perspective has a practical focus, oriented toward improving educational strategies that integrate both curricular aspects and executive skills to enhance the effective learning of a foreign language from an early age.
Marta Martínez-Vicente
Universidad Internacional de La Rioja
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This page is a summary of: Relationship between Learning English as a Foreign Language and the Executive Attention Profile in Spanish Schoolchildren, Psicologí a Educativa, June 2023, Colegio Oficial de Psicologos de Madrid,
DOI: 10.5093/psed2023a10.
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