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Article published In: Language, Interaction and Acquisition
Vol. 10:2 (2019) ► pp.141–176

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Syntax and working memory in typically-developing children

Focus on syntactic complexity

 | University of Geneva
 | University of Geneva
Published online: 4 November 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.18013.del
Abstract
A growing trend in developmental psycholinguistics is to relate linguistic development to the development of other cognitive systems. Jakubowicz (Jakubowicz, C. (2005). The language faculty: (Ab)normal development and interface constraints. Talk presented at GALA, University of Siena., (2011). Measuring derivational complexity: New evidence from typically developing and SLI learners of L1 French. Lingua, 121 (3), 339–351. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) in particular argued that the processing of a complex sentence requires considerable working memory (WM) resources and that these resources are limited in young children, which would explain their non-adult grammar. The present research aims to clarify the relationship between WM and complex syntax, in comprehension, repetition, and spontaneous production, in 48 typically-developing children aged 5 to 12. Our results demonstrate a strong age effect for all measures of WM and syntax. They also reveal strong correlations between scores on simple and complex spans and syntactic performance. Finally, we show the highly predictive value of WM capacities on the acquisition of syntactic skills in both comprehension and production. In particular, the complex-span task, measuring counting span, explains the largest part of the variance in the spontaneous production of embedded clauses.
Résumé
Une tendance croissante dans le champ de la psycholinguistique développementale est de relier le développement linguistique à d’autres systèmes cognitifs. Jakubowicz (Jakubowicz, C. (2005). The language faculty: (Ab)normal development and interface constraints. Talk presented at GALA, University of Siena., (2011). Measuring derivational complexity: New evidence from typically developing and SLI learners of L1 French. Lingua, 121 (3), 339–351. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) a en particulier émis l’hypothèse selon laquelle le traitement d’une phrase complexe exige des ressources considérables en mémoire de travail (MdT) et que ces ressources sont limitées chez les jeunes enfants, ce qui expliquerait leur niveau immature en grammaire. Le but de cette recherche est de clarifier la relation entre MdT et syntaxe complexe, en compréhension, répétition et production spontanée, chez 48 enfants bénéficiant d’un développement typique âgés de 5 à 12 ans. Nos résultats démontrent la présence d’un fort effet d’âge pour toutes les mesures de MdT et de syntaxe. Ils révèlent également des corrélations importantes entre les scores portant sur les empans simples et complexes et les performances syntaxiques. Nous montrons finalement la valeur fortement prédictive des capacités de MdT sur l’acquisition des habiletés syntaxiques en compréhension et en production. En particulier, la tâche d’empan complexe, mesurant l’empan de comptage, explique la plus grande part de variance des résultats en production spontanée de phrases enchâssées.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Syntactic complexity: Focus on syntactic movement and embedding
    • 1.2Working memory: Focus on simple/complex spans
    • 1.3Working memory and complex syntax
    • 1.4Aim and prediction of the present study
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Working memory tasks
    • 2.3Syntactic tasks
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Performance on individual experimental tasks: Working memory
    • 3.2Performance on individual experimental tasks: Complex syntax
    • 3.3Correlation analyses
    • 3.4Regression analyses
    • 3.5Further examination of syntactic complexity
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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2025. Relationships between executive functions and morphosyntactic skills in Spanish-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder. Cognitive Development 75 ► pp. 101609 ff. DOI logo
Yan, Dongsu, Tongfu Fang, Wei He & Min Xu
2025. Syntactic development and its interplay with word processing and working memory in preschoolers’ brain: An fNIRS longitudinal study. NeuroImage 305 ► pp. 120987 ff. DOI logo
Lehmkuhle, Ina & Josefin Lindgren
2024. Connectives in written narratives by German-speaking children in fourth grade and adults. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 43:2 ► pp. 267 ff. DOI logo
Li, Changye, Jacob Solinsky, Trevor Cohen & Serguei Pakhomov
2024. A curious case of retrogenesis in language: Automated analysis of language patterns observed in dementia patients and young children. Neuroscience Informatics 4:1 ► pp. 100155 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Han, Fei Gao & Jingwei Zhang
2024. Mismatch Negativity Unveils Tone Perception Strategies and Degrees of Tone Merging: The Case of Macau Cantonese. Brain Sciences 14:12 ► pp. 1271 ff. DOI logo
Delage, Hélène, Emily Stanford, Clara Baratti & Stéphanie Durrleman
2023. Working memory training in children with developmental language disorder: Effects on complex syntax in narratives. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences 3 DOI logo
Tusun, Alimujiang
2023. Uyghur–Chinese early successive adult bilinguals’ construal of caused motion events. Language and Cognition 15:3 ► pp. 427 ff. DOI logo
Tusun, Alimujiang
2024. Uyghur–Chinese early successive bilingual children's acquisition of voluntary motion expressions. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 27:4 ► pp. 642 ff. DOI logo
Tusun, Alimujiang
2024. Voluntary motion events in Uyghur child language. Language, Interaction and Acquisition 15:2 ► pp. 189 ff. DOI logo
Bello, Sophia & Mihaela Pirvulescu
2022. L’acquisition des objets directs et indirects en français L1. Language, Interaction and Acquisition 13:1 ► pp. 63 ff. DOI logo
Delage, Hélène, Inge-Marie Eigsti, Emily Stanford & Stephanie Durrleman
2022. A Preliminary Examination of the Impact of Working Memory Training on Syntax and Processing Speed in Children with ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 52:10 ► pp. 4233 ff. DOI logo
Franck, Julie & Hélène Delage
2022. The Interplay of Emotions, Executive Functions, Memory and Language: Challenges for Refugee Children. Languages 7:4 ► pp. 309 ff. DOI logo
HENDRIKS, Henriëtte, Maya HICKMANN & Carla PASTORINO-CAMPOS
2022. Running or crossing? Children's expression of voluntary motion in English, German, and French. Journal of Child Language 49:3 ► pp. 578 ff. DOI logo
Homan, Stephanie, Marion Gabi, Nina Klee, Sandro Bachmann, Ann-Marie Moser, Martina Duri', Sofia Michel, Anna-Marie Bertram, Anke Maatz, Guido Seiler, Elisabeth Stark & Birgit Kleim
2022. Linguistic features of suicidal thoughts and behaviors: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review 95 ► pp. 102161 ff. DOI logo
Adams, Eryn J. & Nelson Cowan
2021. The Girl Was Watered by the Flower: Effects of Working Memory Loads on Syntactic Production in Young Children. Journal of Cognition and Development 22:1 ► pp. 125 ff. DOI logo
Delage, Hélène, Emily Stanford & Stephanie Durrleman
2021. Working memory training enhances complex syntax in children with Developmental Language Disorder. Applied Psycholinguistics 42:5 ► pp. 1341 ff. DOI logo
Kuijper, Sanne J. M., Catharina A. Hartman & Petra Hendriks
2021. Children’s Pronoun Interpretation Problems Are Related to Theory of Mind and Inhibition, But Not Working Memory. Frontiers in Psychology 12 DOI logo
Wagley, Neelima & James R. Booth
2021. Neuro-cognitive development of semantic and syntactic bootstrapping in 6- to 7.5-year-old children. NeuroImage 241 ► pp. 118416 ff. DOI logo
Durrleman, Stephanie & Hélène Delage
2020. Training Complements for Belief Reasoning in Developmental Language Disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 63:6 ► pp. 1861 ff. DOI logo
Stanford, Emily & Hélène Delage
2020. Complex syntax and working memory in children with specific learning difficulties. First Language 40:4 ► pp. 411 ff. DOI logo
Stanford, Emily & Hélène Delage
2024. The Language-Cognition Interface in Atypical Development: Support for an Integrative Approach. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica 76:4 ► pp. 309 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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