Rasmussen Carmen, Ho Elaine, Nicoladis Elena, Leung Joyce, Bisanz Jeffrey
Centre for Research in Child Development, University of Alberta.
Can J Exp Psychol. 2006 Mar;60(1):60-7. doi: 10.1037/cjep2006007.
Chinese-speaking children have been shown to have an advantage over English-speaking children in a variety of mathematical areas, including counting. One possible explanation for the advantage in counting is that the Chinese number-naming system is relatively transparent, compared to English, in that number names typically are directly indicative of base-10 structure (e.g., 12 is named "ten-two" rather than "twelve"). To determine whether the transparency of the Chinese number-naming system influences counting in bilingual children, we tested 25 Chinese-English bilingual children between the ages of 3 and 5 years, both in English and in Chinese. Children were asked to count as high as they could (abstract counting) and also to count objects in small, medium, and large arrays (object counting). No evidence was found for transparency or for transfer from one language to the other. Instead, relative proficiency in the two languages influenced counting skill. These results are discussed in terms of linguistic and cultural variables that might account for cross-linguistic differences in counting.
研究表明，说中文的儿童在包括数数在内的各种数学领域比说英语的儿童更具优势。数数方面具有优势的一个可能解释是，与英语相比，中文数字命名系统相对透明，因为数字名称通常直接体现十进制结构（例如，12被命名为“十 二”，而不是“十二”）。为了确定中文数字命名系统的透明度是否会影响双语儿童的数数能力，我们对25名年龄在3至5岁之间的中英双语儿童进行了英语和中文测试。要求儿童尽可能多地数数（抽象数数），并对小、中、大阵列中的物体进行数数（实物数数）。未发现透明度或从一种语言到另一种语言的迁移的证据。相反，两种语言的相对熟练程度影响了数数技能。将根据可能解释数数方面跨语言差异的语言和文化变量来讨论这些结果。
