Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Linguistic relativity
T2 - The case of place value in multi-digit numbers
AU - Saxton, Matthew
AU - Towse, John N.
PY - 1998/4
Y1 - 1998/4
N2 - Differences between languages have been implicated recently in explanations of the cross-cultural disparities observed in children's mathematical performance on place value tasks (e.g., Miura, Okamaoto, Kim, Chang, Steere & Fayol, 1994). Children's understanding of place value was investigated here with 93 English-speaking children and 50 Japanese-speaking children (aged 6 and 7 years). Cubes denoting units and tens were made available to children for producing representations of multi-digit numerals. It was found that subtle shifts in task instructions produced a marked influence on children's performance. In particular, differences between English and Japanese participants disappeared when the use of tens cubes was demonstrated in practice trials. More generally, the findings indicate that the influence of language on the cognitive representation of number is less direct than has previously been suggested.
AB - Differences between languages have been implicated recently in explanations of the cross-cultural disparities observed in children's mathematical performance on place value tasks (e.g., Miura, Okamaoto, Kim, Chang, Steere & Fayol, 1994). Children's understanding of place value was investigated here with 93 English-speaking children and 50 Japanese-speaking children (aged 6 and 7 years). Cubes denoting units and tens were made available to children for producing representations of multi-digit numerals. It was found that subtle shifts in task instructions produced a marked influence on children's performance. In particular, differences between English and Japanese participants disappeared when the use of tens cubes was demonstrated in practice trials. More generally, the findings indicate that the influence of language on the cognitive representation of number is less direct than has previously been suggested.
U2 - 10.1006/jecp.1998.2437
DO - 10.1006/jecp.1998.2437
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:22044436185
VL - 69
SP - 66
EP - 79
JO - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
SN - 0022-0965
IS - 1
ER -