Learning to count: The context of culture, family, gesture and language.

Abstract

The present study explores the contribution of language, culture, gesture and family to the development of numerical knowledge of Chinese- and Euro-American children between the ages of two- and four-years-old. In the study, 111 children participated: 84 Euro-American children and 27 Chinese-American children. In addition, all of the mothers of the Chinese-American children and 35 of the mothers of the Euro-American children participated. The study consisted a Child Task, a Mother-Child Task, and a Mother Interview. The Child Task included rote counting, object-counting, object-cardinality, and teaching a puppet to count. The Mother-Child Task consisted of the mother and child looking at three pictures. The Mother Interview included questions about the mother's attitude about teaching mathematics to her child, the kinds of mathematical activities to which she exposed her child, and her beliefs about the role of preschool. The results suggest that the Euro- and Chinese-American children did not differ in rote or object-counting ability. However, the Chinese-American children were more proficient in tasks of cardinality than their Euro-American counterparts. In addition, gesture played a different role for Euro- and Chinese-American children. Euro-American children's gestures varied according to their age and counting ability. However, no relationship was found between gesture and counting ability for the Chinese-American children. Finally, the two groups of mothers differed in their beliefs about teaching mathematics to their preschool children. Euro-American mothers made a distinction between formal and informal mathematics whereas the Chinese mothers believed that all mathematics (formal and informal) should be taught in context. In addition, the mothers differed in their beliefs about the role of preschool. More Chinese- than Euro-American mothers believed that preschools should focus on preparing their child academically. The present study attempts to explain the development of children's early number knowledge in the context in which it occurs. These contexts provide us with insight into the mechanisms of children's knowledge of numbers.