Relations among linguistic and non-linguistic factors and children’s acquisition of number concepts

Abstract

Language plays an important role in children’s acquisition of number concepts, especially the understanding that the last number word in the counting list represents cardinality of the set. Children who know the cardinal meaning of number words can match the number word to the exact quantity. Previous research has shown that learning of number concepts is associated with language development, particularly vocabulary development. This study examined relations among understanding of number concepts, linguistic (vocabulary) and non-linguistic (working memory capacity) factors using data from a project on early developmental functioning. A total of 956 children (317 3-year-olds, 319 4-year-olds, 320 5-year-olds) from China, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh with approximately equal numbers of boys and girls and children from urban and rural areas, participated in the study. Children were assessed in individual sessions in their mother tongues (Chinese, Hindi, Myanmar and Bengali) and completed number (rote counting and “Give-N” tasks), vocabulary (both receptive and expressive vocabulary tests) and visual working memory (point to the N objects that were just presented) tasks. Both general vocabulary and visual working memory capacity uniquely predicted children’s acquisition of the number words after controlling for SES, preschool attendance, country, gender and age (β=0.032, t(934) = 2.19, p = .029; β=0.124, t(934) = 8.17,p < .001,respectively) (Table 1). The development of cardinal number concepts appears to be scaffolded both linguistic and non-linguistic factors. Its association with the visual working memory may be due to the fact that children’s ability to give correct number in the Give-N task is relevant to their ability to retrieve the ordinal position of the number words, and therefore, related with their working memory capacity. The present study precludes conclusions about causal relationships and suggests the need for further studies with longitudinal and mixed methods research designs and that consider the influence of the number system/simplicity of number words in a language on early numeracy.