Where are the Words? An Examination of Mathematical Language Words in Popular Children's Books

• In Event: STEM Storybooks as a Platform for STEM Learning

Abstract

Introduction: Children’s knowledge of math-specific language is strongly related to their numeracy skills (Toll & Van Luit, 2014). Engaging in storybook reading where children have opportunities to engage with math language terms is an effective way to promote their knowledge of math language (Purpura et al., 2017). However, it is unclear whether commercially available storybooks provide opportunities for children to hear and learn math language terms. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify popular children’s books and examine their mathematical language content (i.e., types of mathematical language terms). Specifically, we sought to answer two primary research questions: 1) Do broadly available storybooks contain mathematical language? and 2) What types of mathematical language terms are used in storybooks? Given the importance of quantitative (Barner et al., 2009) and spatial (Pruden et al., 2011) language, we highlight the findings pertaining to these categories of mathematical language terms.

Method: We examined 182 commercially available children’s picture books. The books were published from 1901 to 2015 and are considered popular and/or classic stories (e.g., featured on bestseller lists) in the United States (e.g., Good Night Moon, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Clifford the Big Red Dog). Trained research assistants coded the books for the presence (1) or absence (0) of 347 math language terms in 10 categories (see Table 1 for categories and examples of terms).

Results: On average, books included 29.92 (SD = 21.23) math language terms, ranging from 0 to 104 math language words. The most frequent category of ML terms represented in books was location and direction terms (see Table 1), though this is likely because the greatest number of these terms were examined. Of the 77 location and direction terms that were coded, 62 (80.52%) were included in at least one book. However, only about half of the terms (43; 55.84%) were used in five or more books. In was the most common location and direction spatial term (n = 131). The proportion of location and direction terms is comparable to the proportion of quantitative terms that were included in books. Of the 33 quantitative terms that were coded, 26 (78.79%) were used in at least one book. Similar to the location and direction terms, only about half of the quantitative terms (16; 48.48%) were used in five or more books. More was the most common quantitative term to be included in books (n = 63).

Discussion: To understand the use of commercially available storybooks in supporting children’s math language skills, researchers and caregivers need to understand whether books that are broadly available contain math language terms. The results of this study indicate that some broadly available storybooks do contain math language content. However, the number of terms used are likely not sufficient for improving children’s math language knowledge. It may be necessary for engaging, commercially available storybooks containing math language terms to be developed for supporting children’s learning of early math skills and for use in early math interventions.

Authors

• Amy R Napoli, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Keting Chen, California State University - San Bernardino
  Non-Presenting Author

• David James Purpura, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Non-Presenting Author