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Transcoding counts: Longitudinal contribution of number writing to arithmetic in different languages.
Chiara Banfi1, Francina J Clayton2, Anna F Steiner3
1Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|July 5, 2022
Summary
Number writing, or transcoding, is a key predictor of arithmetic skills in children. This study found that number writing abilities significantly contribute to math development in both German and English speakers, regardless of language structure.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Developmental psychology
- Educational psychology
Background:
- Number writing, the conversion of number words to digits, is a crucial skill for arithmetic development.
- Previous research on the link between number writing and arithmetic has been largely language-specific.
- Languages differ in number word structure, with some (e.g., German) exhibiting inversion (e.g., "two-and-thirty" for 32), posing unique challenges for transcoding compared to languages without inversion (e.g., English).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the predictive power of number writing for arithmetic development is consistent across languages with and without number word inversion.
- To examine the longitudinal relationship between number writing and arithmetic skills in early primary school years.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study tracking 166 German-speaking and 201 English-speaking children over three years of primary school.
- Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess number writing as a predictor of arithmetic.
- Controlled for non-numerical (nonverbal reasoning, working memory) and numerical (magnitude comparison) factors.
Main Results:
- Number writing in the first grade significantly predicted arithmetic performance in the first, second, and third grades.
- This predictive relationship held true even after accounting for other cognitive and numerical abilities.
- The importance of number writing for arithmetic development was comparable in both German-speaking and English-speaking children.
Conclusions:
- Number writing (transcoding) is a significant and unique predictor of arithmetic development in early primary school.
- The findings demonstrate that this relationship is robust across languages with different number word structures, including those with number word inversion.
- This research extends understanding of the universality of transcoding's role in mathematical learning.
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