Mental Math Dependant On Language, Researchers Find

Mental Math Dependant On Language, Researchers Find
COLLEGE STATION, - The language most bilingual people use to mentally solve
math problems isn't necessarily their native language or even the language that
is most prevalent in their environment. Psychological research shows it's the
language in which they were first taught math - a finding with educational
implications, especially for areas with high concentrations of bilingual
persons.

Texas A&M University psychologist Jyotsna Vaid's research has found that
bilinguals' preferred language for different mental arithmetic activities is
the language in which the associated skills have been acquired.

Her research is part of a larger ongoing project aimed at exploring the role of
language in bilingual people's mental computations. She says although bilingual
people are capable of performing mental computations in either language, their
preference is strongly influenced by the language in which they first learn
math skills.

In areas, such as Texas, where the vast majority of Hispanic children receive
mathematics instruction in English, this could place even more of an emphasis
on English proficiency because this will be the language they continue to use
to solve math problems, says Vaid, who has studied the cognitive aspects of
bilingualism for nearly 20 years.

"A defining characteristic of at least first-generation Hispanic immigrants is
use of Spanish," she says. "It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that none of
the major studies that show decrements in school achievement and attainment in
Hispanic populations have included measures of the student's primary language
proficiency or proficiency in English."

School districts looking to address the lag in math and science test scores for
Hispanic children should consider placing a strong emphasis on "true" bilingual
instruction, Vaid notes.

Research, she says, suggests that children receiving such instruction stand to
perform as well as or at higher levels of overall academic achievement than
those receiving instruction in a second language or than monolingual comparison
groups.

True bilingual instruction - in contrast to what she says is commonplace in
schools now - is instruction that cultivates the child's native language in
addition to teaching English. It is bilingual education that places worth on
the child's first language instead of trying to transition them out of it and
into English, she explains.

The problem is partly cognitive, she says, but partly social as well. There
must be a positive social climate that values a bilingual individual, not one
that aims to instill an English monolingualism, she adds.

Vaid's study, published in a special issue of "Spanish Applied Linguistics,"
examined four predictor variables for more than 500 Spanish-English college
students who were asked about their preferred language for various mental
activities.

On the question, "When doing simple mental arithmetic in your head, what
language do you normally use?" nearly 95 percent reported a single language
preference, with the language of choice being English for 84 percent and
Spanish for 16 percent.

The variables studied were language of elementary school instruction, length of
residence in the United States, age of second language acquisition, and degree
of proficiency in the second language. All four variables significantly
predicted language preference for mental arithmetic, with the language used in
elementary school being the strongest predictor, Vaid says.

In addition, all of these factors, except for the age of the second language,
also predicted language preference for thinking to oneself and dreaming, she
adds.

For thinking to oneself, she says, the most important factor appears to be the
amount of exposure to English (as defined by the length of stay in the United
States), whereas for dreaming, language proficiency rates as the most
influential.

Jamsportland
The Art of Mental Calculation for K- 4th Grade Students
www.jamsportland.com