Executive functions of early poor readers in Chinese

Previous researchers suggested that learning to read Chinese particularly rely on executive functions for coordinating the complex mapping between features of print. Therefore, the present study examined whether Chinese poor readers exhibited weaknesses in a range of executive function skills. 50 poor readers (aged 5.25) and 50 average readers (aged 5.23) were identified from a sample of 201 Chinese children in Hong Kong. They were assessed with tests of Chinese word reading, nonverbal IQ, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibition control. ANOVA results showed that poor readers were significantly weaker at cognitive flexibility and working memory, but not at inhibition control. Moreover, poor readers showed weakness in concurrent flexibility but not in consecutive flexibility. Copyright © 2019 43rd Annual IARLD Conference for Research in Learning Disabilities.