Enhanced Mathematics Understanding in Bilinguals: The Role of Working Memory

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Studies of Diversity and Equity in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Bilingual children exhibit enhanced working memory (WM) skill relative to monolingual children, which could have implications for early math development. Competency in mathematics is supported by conceptual and procedural knowledge, as well as underlying cognitive processes, such as WM. This study examined relations between WM and numerical knowledge in monolingual and bilingual children. Thirty-eight children aged 3-5-years-old completed a nonverbal WM task, number identification, nonverbal addition, symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude comparison tasks. However, bilinguals performed significantly better on WM, number identification, and addition than monolinguals. Furthermore, the relation between bilingualism and addition was explained by WM, even after controlling for intelligence. The results provide evidence for a bilingual strength in certain areas of math understanding.

Authors

• Emily N Daubert, University of Maryland - College Park

• Geetha Ramani, University of Maryland - College Park