Purpose: The goal of this study is to present the theoretical conceptions related to cognitive control, highlighting those main components that show a close relationship with language processing. Further, our goal was to review these functions in two distinct language groups: children with developmental language disorders and typically developing bilingual children. Specifically, we were interested in the way certain factors of language competence and performance interact with the cognitive control functions. Method: We compared the cognitive control functions between monolingual children with developmental language disorders and their typically developing peers, as well as between bilingual children and their monolingual peers. The following aspects were considered for our review: the target population - school-age monolingual children with developmental language disorders or school-age typically developing bilingual children; studies that employed tasks that measure response inhibition, resistance to interference, working memory updating and cognitive flexibility. Results: Overall, there are many conflicting results in the literature due to the heterogeneity of the groups and the differences across methodological approaches. Despite these inconsistencies, children's cognitive control functions are highly associated with their language skills; while the children with developmental language disorders show deficits in resistance to interference, working memory updating, and cognitive flexibility compared to their typically developing peers, the bilingual children show superior performance in these functions compared to their monolingual peers. Response inhibition was the only function that did not differ across groups. Conclusions: Based on the above, language development shows a close relationship with a number of cognitive control functions. The interaction between cognitive control and language, however, indicates different directions in the two target groups. Whereas poor cognitive control in children with developmental language disorders may contribute to their lower level of language skills, the cognitive advantage of bilingual children is the result of their bilingual language use and practice across different social contexts.