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Article history:
Received 12 July 2010
Received in revised form 4 July 2011
Accepted 6 July 2011
Keywords:
Early numeracy
General intelligence
Working memory
Phonological awareness
Grammatical ability
a b s t r a c t
The present study investigated the role of cognitive and linguistic precursors to early numeracy skills to
examine the interrelations between the development of linguistic and numeracy skills. General intelligence,
working memory, phonological awareness, grammatical ability, and early numeracy skills were assessed in 75
rst (mean age 6.1) and 55 second language learners (mean age 6.2). The second language learners scored
lower than the rst language learners on both linguistic and early numeracy tasks. However, the same
precursors accounted for the variation in the early numeracy of both groups as no structural differences were
found between the two groups. A more elaborate model of the acquisition of early numeracy is presented
indicating that in the earlier years of childhood the acquisition of early numeracy skills is highly related to
linguistic skills.
2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Early numeracy consists of logical operations (e.g., comparison,
classication, and seriation skills) (cf. Nunes & Bryant, 1996) and
numeral representations (i.e., counting and elementary computation
skills) (Desoete & Gregoire, 2006; Passolunghi, Vercelloni, & Schadee,
2007). Both sets of skills are assumed to be partly related to the language
system (Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003). With respect to logical
operations, Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch (2002) argued that both
cognitive and syntactic skills are constrained by a universal grammar
and develop by recursion; similarly, it is claimed that grammatical
representations share a common base with non-linguistic domains, like
logical operations, both involving sequential constructions based on
abstract hierarchical representations (Scheepers, Sturt, Teevan, &
Myckykov, 2009). With regard to numeral representations, a relation
between phonological and mathematical skills is assumed. Krajewski
and Schneider (2009) found a relation between phonological awareness
and quantity number competencies in early childhood. Simmons and
Singleton (2008) showed problems in phonological awareness to
inuence aspects of arithmetic that involve the manipulation of verbal
codes (i.e., counting speed, number fact recall).
Evidence for the intrinsic relation between language and mathematics also comes from studies of second language (L2) learners.
Given that L2 learners tend to score lower on both phonological
556
2. Method
2.1. Participants
A total of 130 children (75 L1, 55 L2) were randomly selected
from 18 Dutch schools (18 mixed classrooms in which the
proportion of L2 learners varied from 40 to 60%) for mainstream
elementary education in the Netherlands. All of the children's
parents gave their passive consent for participation of their child
and completed a questionnaire with regard to their educational
backgrounds and use of language in the home. The participation
rate was 100%. All of the children were in kindergarten and thus
the year prior to formal reading and mathematics instruction
although attention is paid in kindergarten to phonological
awareness and early numeracy. The group of L2 learners consisted
of Turkish and Moroccan children. Turkish and Moroccan immigrants have come to the Netherlands over the past decades for
economic reasons, and they now form the largest minority group
in the Netherlands (CBS, 2009). The children in Turkish and
Moroccan families tend to live in native-language speaking homes;
their early language input is thus restricted to Turkish and
Moroccan-Arabic; and the Dutch language only gradually enters
their lives via playmates and Dutch school (Scheele, Leseman, &
Mayo, 2010). Demographic information is presented in Table 1.
Table 1
Demographic characteristics of the L1 (n = 75) and L2 (n = 55) learners.
Demographic
variable
Age (months)
Mean (SD)
Range
L1 learners
L2 learners
72.95 (4.324)n.s.
6581
73.31 (5.969)n.s.
5085
3.98 (.623)n.s.
1 (no education)7
(university)
0
34
21
n.s.
(p N .400).
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Cognitive measures
General intelligence was assessed using the Raven's Coloured
Progressive Matrices (Raven, 1965). Thirty-six visual patterns of
increasing difculty are presented. In each pattern, the child must
choose the missing piece of information from six alternatives. The
correct answers are counted and converted on the basis of the Dutch
norms to a standard score (Cronbach's = .90, van Bon, 1986).
Central Executive Functioning was measured using the Number
Recall subtest from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, second
edition (K-ABC II) (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2005). The child must recall a
sequence of digits in backward order, with the number of digits
increasing as the test progresses. After three consecutive failures,
testing is terminated. The correctly recalled sequences are counted
(Cronbach's = .85, Kaufman, Lichtenberger, Fletcher-Janzen, &
Kaufman, 2005).
The phonological loop was assessed using the subtest Woorden
Nazeggen [Repeating Words] from the ESM Toets [Test for Children
with Specic Language Impairment] (Verhoeven, 2005). The child
must recall a sequence of words in the same order, with the
number of words increasing as the test progresses. After three
consecutive failures, testing is terminated. The correctly recalled
sequences are counted (Cronbach's = .84).
The Visual Spatial Sketchpad was measured using the subtest
Geheugenspan [Memory Span] from the Revisie Amsterdamse Kinder
Intelligentie Test [Revision Amsterdam Child Intelligence Test]
(RAKIT) (Bleichrodt, Drenth, Zaal, & Resing, 1987). A sequence of
abstract gures is presented on paper, and the child must then
reproduce the sequence using little blocks with the abstract
gures depicted on them. The number of abstract gures increases
as testing progresses. Testing is terminated after three consecutive
failures. The correctly reproduced sequences are then counted
(Cronbach's = .82).
2.2.2. Linguistic measures
Phonological awareness was measured using the Signaleringsinstrument Beginnende Geletterdheid [Diagnostic Instrument for
Emerging Literacy] (Vloedgraven, Keuning, & Verhoeven, 2009).
For four tasks each, two practice items and ten test items were
presented. For each task, three pictures depicting one-syllable
words were rst read aloud. The instructions for the subsequent
part of each task then differed. For rhyming, the child heard a
target word and was asked to identify the corresponding rhyme
word from three pictures. For blending, only the initial letter was
heard and the child had to click on the word starting with the
same initial letter. For synthesis, the child had to indicate which of
three pictures corresponded to an orally presented letter-sound
sequence. For letter identication, the child heard a phoneme and
had to click on the corresponding grapheme. The number of
correct answers was the score for each task (Cronbach's N .90,
Vloedgraven & Verhoeven, 2007).
Grammatical ability was assessed using three tasks from the
Taaltoets Alle Kinderen [Language Test for All Children] (Verhoeven
& Vermeer, 1993). For each task, the child heard a sentence that
corresponded to one of three pictures. The Task 1 sentences
contained 42 function words; task 2 involved 32 sentence
structures; and task 3 involved subtle grammatical differences
(i.e., nuances). The number of correct answers was the scores per
task (Cronbach's N .82, Verhoeven & Vermeer, 2006).
2.2.3. Early numeracy measure
Early numeracy was assessed using the Utrechtse Getalbegrip
Toets [Utrecht Early Numeracy Test] (Cronbach's = .94, van Luit
& van de Rijt, 2005). Logical operation skills were tested using four
tasks (cf. Nunes & Bryant, 1996) and numeral representations
were tested using four other tasks. Five items were presented to
the child for each task.
2.2.3.1. Logical operations. For comparison, the child had to compare
the qualitative and quantitative aspects of several items. For
classication, the child had to group several items using criteria
specied by the tester. For correspondence, the child had to compare
absolute quantities in a one-to-one relation. For seriation, the child
had to order items on the basis of their external appearance
(Cronbach's = .80).
2.2.3.2. Numeral representations. For counting, the child had to count
from a certain point back and then forward. For synchronous and
shortened counting, the child had to count sequentially and then by
intervals, using the structure of dice. For resultative counting, the child
had to count organized and disorganized quantities without using
such visual aids as ngers or hands. For applying knowledge of the
number system, the child had to apply knowledge of the number
system to a variety of daily situations. For all tasks, the number of
correct answers was the score (Cronbach's = .80).
2.3. Procedure
Testing was done in three blocks. The rst involved the cognitive
measures. The second involved the linguistic measures. The third
involved the early numeracy measure. The blocks were presented at
random but the tests within a block were administered in the same
order. The children were tested individually in a quiet room at their
school for a total of 2.5 h across a period of 1 month.
557
Table 2
Descriptive statistics for L1 (n = 75) and L2 (n = 55) learners; results of t-tests for
independent samples; and Cohen's d.
Task
Group
L1
General intelligence
Working memory
Central executive
functioning
Phonological loop
Visualspatial sketchpad
Phonological awareness
Rhyming
Blending
Synthesis
Letter identication
Grammatical ability
Function words
Sentence structures
Nuances
Early numeracy
Comparison
Classication
Correspondence
Seriation
Counting
Synchronous counting
Resultative counting
Applying knowledge of
number system
L2
SD
SD
55.05
31.637
53.94
31.542
.196
.035
3.85
1.761
3.52
1.997
.997
.175
4.33
4.61
1.223
1.902
4.04
4.44
1.374
1.679
1.298
.522
.223
.095
9.38
7.47
7.96
23.23
.952
2.340
2.251
6.832
7.67
5.87
6.55
18.61
1.873
2.249
2.237
8.550
6.171
3.862
3.482
3.274
1.442
.697
.628
.659
34.74
26.37
26.75
3.021
3.281
3.143
31.44
22.80
23.48
4.761
4.007
3.586
4.453
5.521
5.437
.971
.975
.970
4.73
4.32
3.95
3.96
3.27
2.88
2.78
3.27
.607
.743
.896
.920
1.261
1.142
1.294
1.170
3.94
3.57
3.26
2.94
2.76
2.13
2.06
2.63
1.054
1.126
1.376
1.323
1.273
1.428
1.459
1.233
4.885
4.206
3.196
4.835
2.265
3.274
2.958
2.999
1.010
.907
.692
1.022
.403
.580
.522
.532
p b .01.
p b .001.
558
Table 3
Correlations between the early numeracy tasks, phonological awareness tasks and grammatical ability tasks (n = 130).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Comparison
Classication
Seriation
Counting
Synchronous counting
Resultative counting
Applying knowledge of
the number system
8. Rhyming
9. Blending
10. Synthesis
11. Letter knowledge
12. Function words
13. Sentence structures
14. Nuances
.343
.385
.151
.390
.300
.177
.461
.280
.400
.301
.272
.367
.384
.415
.339
.543
.489
.390
.562
.321
.320
.333
.261
.254
.285
.436
.325
.316
.472
.278
.290
.420
.448
.475
.386
.490
.334
.384
.455
.448
.398
.319
.376
.391
.300
.437
.327
.448
.332
.432
.389
.371
.529
.336
.442
.376
.465
.499
.412
.518
.350
.443
.333
.404
.320
.208
.341
.354
.412
.360
10
11
12
13
14
.396
.509
.533
.556
.435
.400
.564
.654
.392
.432
.366
.594
.378
.349
.263
.430
.469
.295
.613
.553
.745
p b .001.
p b .05.
.53***
.18**
Function words
.34***
Sentence structures
.67***
.90***
Nuances
.82***
.54***
Grammatical
ability
Logical
operations
.67***
Comparison
.71***
Classification
.60***
Seriation
.47***
Counting
.53***
Synchronous
counting
.39***
Resultative
counting
.49***
.73***
.29 ***
.19 **
.69***
Numeral
representations
Phonological
awareness
.67***
Rhyming
.52***
.80***
.70***
Blending
Synthesis
.37***
.51***
.80***
.78***
.71***
.48***
Letter knowledge
Applying
knowledge of
number system
.35***
.72***
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
General intelligence
Working memory
Phonological awareness
Grammatical ability
Logical operations
Numeral representations
.240
.249
.349
.197
.178
.451
.472
.436
.541
.532
.554
.645
.582
.570
.542
p b .001.
p b .05.
.37*
Grammatical
ability
559
Kane, & Engle, 2003). The visual spatial sketchpad did not predict
early numeracy, which is probably because the central executive
relied more on the phonological loop than the visual spatial
sketchpad for tasks that were assessed orally.
Finally, the results showed partial mediation of the effects of IQ and
working memory on early numeracy by both phonological awareness
and grammatical ability. Given the non-signicant contribution of the
visual spatial sketchpad, we removed it from the nal model.
However, it should be noted that the model would still hold in its
current form, even if we did not remove it for further analysis.
In sum, our research showed the acquisition of early numeracy
skills to highly depend on language. Given the correlational nature
of our research, we cannot conclude that language predicts early
numeracy. In other words, whether the inuence of language on
numeracy remains during formal mathematics education in grade
one and further has yet to be seen. Children must use counting
strategies and retrieve the phonological form of a counting word
from working memory to solve an arithmetic problem (Simmons
et al., 2008). It is therefore likely that language still plays a role in
the retrieval of arithmetic facts for simple addition and multiplication. For subtraction, it is likely that the use of linguistic-based
counting strategies from earlier years will gradually be replaced by
other procedures as subtraction problems become more difcult
and call for more visualspatial representations than simple
addition and multiplication (Dehaene et al., 2003).
To fully understand the relation between language and
mathematics, future research should examine the uency and
prociency of both L1 and L2 learners in the domains of both
language and mathematics. Furthermore, individual differences
should be examined as Geary (1993) has suggested that shared
underlying genes may contribute to problems in both the areas of
language and mathematics at times.
However, factors other than linguistic ability may be at work.
We therefore conducted an additional ANCOVA with phonological
awareness and grammatical ability as the control variables and
logical operations and numeral representations as the dependent
variables and still found differences in the numeracy abilities of
the L1 and L2 learners. Future research should therefore consider
the role of parentchild numeracy practices as well (cf. LeFevre
et al., 2009).
Logical
operations
.28*
.22***
.20**
.47**
Phonological
awareness
.30**
Numeral
representations
560
Comparison
.74***
Classification
.56***
Seriation
.49***
Counting
.51***
Synchronous
counting
.46***
.51***
.08
IQ
.67***
Logical
operations
.71***
.16 **
.19**
.34 ***
.70***
Working memory
Numeral
representations
.44***
.74***
.70***
.59***
.89***
Central executive
functioning
Phonological
loop
.65***
Resultative
counting
.02
.55***
Visual Spatial
sketchpad
.54***
.51***
Applying
knowledge of
number system
.70***
.67***
We conclude that, in addition to cognitive factors, both phonological awareness and grammatical ability play an equally important
role in the early numeracy of L1 and L2 learners. To disentangle the
.02
.22**
IQ
.39**
Grammatical
ability
Logical
operations
.05
.04
.21**
Working memory
.14*
.42*
.27*
.02
Phonological
awareness
.55**
Numeral
representations
.02
Fig. 4. Final model including the structural relations between cognitive, linguistic, and early numeracy skills for kindergarten children (n = 130).
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