Cross-National Differences in Performance in Mathematics: Clarifying the Relationship Between Number Naming Systems and Mathematical (Dis)Ability

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Roundtable: Mathematics Learning of Struggling Learners

Abstract

Language has been widely acknowledged as a determining factor in mathematical achievement. Less understood, however, is the relationship between students’ dominant language and their mathematics performance when considering the presence of mathematical difficulties or disabilities. Using a subset of the 2011 Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we investigated the effects of two different language systems, English and Chinese, on the mathematical performance of fourth-grade (or age equivalent) students (N=23, 220).
Findings from hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses suggest that the effect of language on mathematical performance is conditional on mathematical difficulties/disabilities. Language may not be as critical in determining differences in mathematical performance for English and Chinese-speaking students.

Authors

• Nicola McClung, University of San Francisco

• Diana J. Arya, University of California - Santa Barbara