Mathematical language and mathematical abilities in preschool: A systematic literature review |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, University of Education Karlsruhe, Germany;2. Department of Educational Science, University of Freiburg, Germany;1. Florida State University, Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Tallahassee, FL, USA;2. University of Missouri, School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, Columbia, MO, USA;1. Department of Psychology, Hangzhou Normal University, China;2. Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, USA;3. School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China;4. Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China;5. IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China;6. Dr Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Canada;1. Department of Inclusive and Special Needs Education, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 38, 9712, TJ Groningen, the Netherlands;2. Department of Parenting and Special Education, KU Leuven, Oude Markt 13, 3000, Leuven, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | It is well established that early general language during preschool is critical for children's mathematical abilities. In an attempt to further characterize this association between language and mathematics, an increasing number of studies show that one specific type of language, namely mathematical language or the key linguistic concepts that are required for performing mathematical activities, is even more critical to children's mathematical abilities. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence on mathematical language and mathematical abilities. We focus on preschool children as nearly all of the existing work has been done at this age. We first explain how mathematical language has been defined across studies, and report how it has been evaluated in studies in preschool. Next, we present the results of our systematic review. Following the PRISMA guidelines and after a critical appraisal, we ended with a set of 18 papers that were all of sufficient methodological quality. In these studies, mathematical language was defined as terms that are about numbers and operations on numbers (e.g., nine), but also included linguistic terms that do not directly refer to numbers, yet are important to understand mathematical concepts (i.e., quantitative and spatial terms such as fewest and middle, respectively). Some of these studies evaluated children's performance on mathematical language tasks, while others evaluated the mathematical language input provided to the child by their (educational) environment (teachers/parents/interventionists). Mathematical language correlated positively with children's mathematical abilities, concurrently and longitudinally. It also directly affected children's mathematical abilities, as was shown by intervention studies. We discuss potential directions for future research and highlight implications for education, arguing for more support for teachers and parents to improve the use of mathematical language in the classroom and in home settings. |
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| Keywords: | Mathematical language Mathematical abilities Preschool |
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