Göbel, Silke M orcid.org/0000-0001-8845-6026, Moeller, Korbinian, Pixner, Silvia et al. (2 more authors) (2014) Language affects symbolic arithmetic in children:The case of number word inversion. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. pp. 17-25. ISSN 0022-0965
Abstract
Specific language influences have been observed in basic numerical tasks such as magnitude comparison, transcoding, and the number line estimation task. However, so far language influences in more complex calculations have not been reported in children. In this translingual study, 7- to 9-year-old German- and Italian-speaking children were tested on a symbolic addition task. Whereas the order of tens and units in Italian number words follows the order of the Arabic notation, the order is inverted in German number words. For both language groups, addition problems were more difficult when a carry operation was needed, that is, when a manipulation within the place-value structure of the Arabic number system was particularly important. Most important, this carry effect was more pronounced in response latencies for children speaking German, a language with inverted verbal mapping of the place-value structure. In addition, independent of language group, the size of the carry effect was significantly related to verbal working memory. The current study indicates that symbolic arithmetic and the carry effect in particular are modulated by language-specific characteristics. Our results underline the fact that the structure of the language of instruction is an important factor in children's mathematical education and needs to be taken into account even for seemingly nonverbal symbolic Arabic tasks.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Psychology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 23 Dec 2015 14:00 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2025 23:06 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.10.001 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jecp.2013.10.001 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:93087 |