Bonifacci Paola, Tobia Valentina, Bernabini Luca, Marzocchi Gian Marco
Laboratory Assessment Learning Disabilities, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna Bologna, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca Milan, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2016 Jul 7;7:1020. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01020. eCollection 2016.
Many studies have suggested that the concept of "number" is relatively independent from linguistic skills, although an increasing number of studies suggest that language abilities may play a pivotal role in the development of arithmetic skills. The condition of bilingualism can offer a unique perspective into the role of linguistic competence in numerical development. The present study was aimed at evaluating the relationship between language skills and early numeracy through a multilevel investigation in monolingual and bilingual minority children attending preschool. The sample included 156 preschool children. Of these, 77 were bilingual minority children (mean age = 58.27 ± 5.90), and 79 were monolinguals (mean age = 58.45 ± 6.03). The study focused on three levels of analysis: group differences in language and number skills, concurrent linguistic predictors of early numeracy and, finally, profile analysis of linguistic skills in children with impaired vs. adequate numeracy skills. The results showed that, apart from the expected differences in linguistic measures, bilinguals differed from monolinguals in numerical skills with a verbal component, such as semantic knowledge of digits, but they did not differ in a pure non-verbal component such as quantity comparison. The multigroup structural equation model indicated that letter knowledge was a significant predictor of the verbal component of numeracy for both groups. Phonological awareness was a significant predictor of numeracy skills only in the monolingual group. Profile analysis showed that children with a selective weakness in the non-verbal component of numeracy had fully adequate verbal skills. Results from the present study suggest that only some specific components of language competence predict numerical processing, although linguistic proficiency may not be a prerequisite for developing adequate early numeracy skills.
许多研究表明，“数字”概念相对独立于语言技能，尽管越来越多的研究表明语言能力可能在算术技能发展中起关键作用。双语环境能够为语言能力在数字发展中的作用提供独特视角。本研究旨在通过对就读于学前班的单语和双语少数族裔儿童进行多层次调查，评估语言技能与早期算术能力之间的关系。样本包括156名学龄前儿童。其中，77名是双语少数族裔儿童（平均年龄 = 58.27 ± 5.90），79名是单语儿童（平均年龄 = 58.45 ± 6.03）。该研究聚焦于三个分析层面：语言和数字技能的组间差异、早期算术能力的同步语言预测因素，以及最后，算术技能受损与正常儿童的语言技能剖析。结果显示，除了语言测量方面的预期差异外，双语儿童在具有语言成分的数字技能方面与单语儿童不同，比如数字的语义知识，但在诸如数量比较等纯粹的非语言成分上并无差异。多组结构方程模型表明，字母知识是两组算术语言成分的重要预测因素。语音意识仅在单语组中是算术技能的重要预测因素。剖析分析表明，在算术非语言成分上存在选择性弱点的儿童具有完全足够的语言技能。本研究结果表明，尽管语言熟练程度可能不是发展足够的早期算术技能的先决条件，但只有语言能力的某些特定成分能预测数字处理。
