Understanding the written number system: 6 Year-olds in Argentina and Switzerland

Thirty children in Geneva, Switzerland, 15 middle-class children in Bariloche and 15 lower-class children from a semi-literate or illiterate milieu in Bariloche, Argentina, were tested. All children were aged 6 and attending public schools. Tasks were: (1) judging which of two bi- or tri-digit written numerals was the biggest, and explaining why; and (2) explaining the role played by the different digits in numerals such as 11, 12, 16, 17. Results show that children at these ages use various strategies in task 1: they compare number of digits; read aloud the numerals and refer to number-string knowledge; treat bi- and tri-digits as the sum of their face value parts; and lastly, quite often take both face value and position of digits into account in a correct way. They, however, were not able to explain place-value. Most subjects gave face value interpretations, while a few children account for the whole collection of chips and make part of the chips correspond to one digit, and the other part to the other digit. Differences in performance between the three types of children emerge.