Causal Connections Between Mathematical Language and Mathematical Knowledge: A Dialogic Reading Intervention

The acquisition of early mathematical knowledge is critical for successful long-term academic development. Mathematical language is one of the strongest predictors of children's early mathematical success. Findings from previous studies have provided correlational evidence supporting the import...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research on educational effectiveness 2017-01, Vol.10 (1), p.116-137
Main Authors: Purpura, David J., Napoli, Amy R., Wehrspann, Elizabeth A., Gold, Zachary S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attribution Theory
Child Development
Children & youth
Comparative Analysis
Correlation
dialogic reading
Dialogs (Language)
Disadvantaged Youth
Evidence
Graduate Study
Intervention
Language
Language Usage
mathematical language
Mathematics
Mathematics Achievement
Mathematics Education
Mathematics Instruction
Mathematics Skills
Mathematics Tests
Predictor Variables
preschool
Preschool Children
Pretests Posttests
Reading Difficulties
Reading Instruction
Spatial Ability
Statistics
vocabulary
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Summary:The acquisition of early mathematical knowledge is critical for successful long-term academic development. Mathematical language is one of the strongest predictors of children's early mathematical success. Findings from previous studies have provided correlational evidence supporting the importance of mathematical language to the development of children's mathematics skills, but there is limited causal evidence supporting this link. To address this research gap, 47 Head Start children were randomly assigned to a mathematical language intervention group or a business-as-usual group. Over the course of eight weeks, interventionists implemented a dialogic reading intervention focused on quantitative and spatial mathematical language. At posttest, students in the intervention group significantly outperformed the students in the comparison group not only on a mathematical language assessment, but on a mathematical knowledge assessment as well. These findings indicate that increasing children's exposure to mathematical language can positively affect their general mathematics skills. This study is an important first step in providing causal evidence of the importance of early mathematical language for children's general mathematical knowledge and the potential for mathematical language interventions to increase children's overall mathematics abilities.
ISSN:1934-5747
1934-5739
DOI:10.1080/19345747.2016.1204639