Research in Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회지시리즈D:수학교육연구)

Korean Society of Mathematical Education (한국수학교육학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

When 5004 is Said "Five Thousand Zero Hundred Remainder Four": The Influence of Language on Natural Number Transcoding: Cross-National Comparison

  • Nguyen, Hien Thi-Thu (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Catholic University of Louvain) ;
  • Gregoire, Jacques (Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Catholic University of Louvain)
  • Received : 2013.10.10
  • Accepted : 2014.06.28
  • Published : 2014.06.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

The Vietnamese language has a specific property related to the zero in the name-number system. This study was conducted to examine the impact of linguistic differences and of the zero's position in a number on a transcoding task (verbal number into Arabic number). Vietnamese children and French-speaking Belgian children, from grades 3 to 6, participated in the study. The success rate and the type of errors they made varied, depending on their grade and language. At Grade 4, Vietnamese children showed performances equivalent to Grade 6 Belgian children. Our results confirmed the support provided by language to the understanding and performances in a transcoding task. Results also showed that a syntactic zero is easier to manipulate than a lexical zero for Vietnamese children. The relative influence of language and the source of errors are discussed.

Keywords

References

  1. Casasanto, D.; Fotakopoulu, O.; Pita, R. & Boroditsky, L. (In Revision). How deep are effects of language on thought? Time estimation in speakers of English and Greek. Cognition.
  2. Censabella, S. (2000). L'ecriture des nombres sous dictee chez l'enfant. Etude qualitative et implication de la memoire de travail. Unpublished master thesis. Liege, Belgique: Universite de Liege.
  3. Dehaene, S. (1992). Varieties of numerical abilities. Cognition 44, 1-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(92)90049-N
  4. Deloche, G., & Seron, X. (1982). From one to 1: An analysis of a transcoding process by means of neuropsychological data. Cognition 12, 119-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(82)90009-9
  5. Geary, D. C.; Bow-Thomas, C.C.; Fan, L. & Siegler, R.S. (1993). Even before formal instruction, Chinese children outperform American children in mental addition. Cognitive Development 8(4), 517-529. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(05)80007-3
  6. Geary, D. C.; Bow-Thomas, C.C.; Fan, L. & Siegler, R.S. (1996). Development of arithmetical competencies in Chinese and American children: Influence of age, language, and schooling. Child Development 67(5), 2022-2044. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131607
  7. Grana, A.; Lochy, A.; Girellid, L.; Seron, X. & Semenza, C. (2003). Transcoding zeros within complex numerals. Neuropsychologia 41, 1611-1718. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(03)00109-X
  8. Ho, C. S.-H., & Fuson, K. C. (1998). Children's knowledge of teen quantities as tens and ones: Comparisons of Chinese, British, and American kindergartners. Journal of Educational Psychology 90(3), 536-544. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.90.3.536
  9. Lochy, A.; Delazer, M. & Seron, X. (2003). Influence of language in the early acquisition of numbers writing: A comparison of French and German. Paper presented at the Third Aachen-Gent Brain and Number Workshop, Aachen, Germany.
  10. McCloskey, M.; Caramazza, A. & Basili, A. (1985).Cognitive mechanisms in number processing and calculation: Evidence from dyscalculia. Brain and Cognition 4, 171-196. https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-2626(85)90069-7
  11. Miller, K.; Major, S. M.; Shu, H. & Zhang, H. (2000). Ordinal knowledge: Number names and number concepts in Chinese and English. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology 54(2), 129-140. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087335
  12. Miller, K. F.; Smith, C. M.; Zhu, J. &Zhang, H. (1995). Preschool origins of cross-national differences in mathematical competence: The role of number-naming systems. Psychological Science 6, 56-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1995.tb00305.x
  13. Miller, K. F. & Stigler, J. W. (1987). Counting in Chinese: Cultural variation in a basic cognitive skill. Cognitive Development 2(3), 279-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2014(87)90091-8
  14. Miura, I. T.; Kim, C. C.; Chang, C. M. & Okamoto, Y. (1988). Effects of language characteristics on children's cognitive representation of number: Cross-national comparisons. Child Development 59, 1445-1450. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130659
  15. Miura, I. T. & Okamoto, Y. (1989). Comparisons of American and Japanese first graders' cognitive representation of number and understanding of place value. Journal of Educational Psychology 81, 109-113. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.81.1.109
  16. Miura, I. T.; Okamoto, Y.; Kim, C. C.; Steere, M. & Fayol, M. (1993). First Graders' Cognitive Representation of Number and Understanding of Place Value: Cross-National Comparisons-France, Japan, Korea, Sweden, and the United States. Journal of Educational Psychology 85(1), 24-30. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.85.1.24
  17. Miura, I. T.; Okamoto, Y.; Kim, C. C.; Chang, C. M.; Steere, M. & Fayol, M. (1994). Comparisons of children's cognitive representation of number: China, France, Japan, Korea, Sweden and the United States. International Journal of Behavioral Development 17, 401-411. https://doi.org/10.1177/016502549401700301
  18. Noel, M-P. & Turconi. E. (1999). Assessing number transcoding in Children. European Review of Applied Psychology 49(4), 295-302.
  19. Power, R. J. D. & Dal Martello, M. F. (1990). The dictation of Italian numerals. Language and Cognitive Processes 5, 237-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690969008402106
  20. Power, R. J. D. & Dal Martello, M. F. (1997). From 834 to eighty thirty four: The reading of Arabic numerals by 7-year-old children. Mathematical Cognition 3(1), 63-85. https://doi.org/10.1080/135467997387489
  21. Saxton, M. & Towse, J.W. (1998). Linguistic Relativity: The case of place value in muiti-digit numbers. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 69, 66-79. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1998.2437
  22. Seron, X.; Deloche, G. & Noel, M-P. (1991). Number transcoding by children: Writing Arabic numbers under dictation. In: J. Bideaud, C. Melijac & J. P. Fisher (Eds.), Pathway to Number (pp. 245-264). Hillsdale New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  23. Seron, X. & Fayol, M. (1994). Number transcoding in children: A functional analysis. British Journal of Developmental Psychology 12, 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1994.tb00635.x
  24. Steffe, L. P.; Cobb, P. & von Glasersfeld, E. (1988). Construction of arithmetical meanings and strategies. New York: Springer-Verlag.
  25. Towse, J. W. & Saxton, M.(1997).Linguistic influences on children's number concepts: Methodological and theoretical considerations. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 66, 362-374. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1997.2389
  26. Zuber, J.; Pixner, S.; Moeller, K. & Nuerk, H.-C. (2009). On the language specificity of basic number processing: Transcoding in a language with inversion and its relation to working memory capacity. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 102, 60-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2008.04.003