title: Language affects symbolic arithmetic in children: the case of number word inversion.
abstract: Specific language influences have been observed in basic numerical tasks such as magnitude comparison, transcoding, and the number line estimation task. However, so far language influences in more complex calculations have not been reported in children. In this translingual study, 7- to 9-year-old German- and Italian-speaking children were tested on a symbolic addition task. Whereas the order of tens and units in Italian number words follows the order of the Arabic notation, the order is inverted in German number words. For both language groups, addition problems were more difficult when a carry operation was needed, that is, when a manipulation within the place-value structure of the Arabic number system was particularly important. Most important, this carry effect was more pronounced in response latencies for children speaking German, a language with inverted verbal mapping of the place-value structure. In addition, independent of language group, the size of the carry effect was significantly related to verbal working memory. The current study indicates that symbolic arithmetic and the carry effect in particular are modulated by language-specific characteristics. Our results underline the fact that the structure of the language of instruction is an important factor in children's mathematical education and needs to be taken into account even for seemingly nonverbal symbolic Arabic tasks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. Electronic address: silke.goebel@york.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Silke M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Göbel
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Media Research Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Korbinian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology, Department for Human and Economic Sciences, UMIT-The Health and Life Sciences University, 6060 Hall in Tyrol, Austria.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pixner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy A, General Hospital, 6060 Hall in Tyrol, Austria.
authors.forename: Liane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
authors.affiliation: Knowledge Media Research Center, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Department of Psychology, Eberhard Karls University, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Nuerk
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007802:Language; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D011578:Psycholinguistics / Q000379:methods; D012660:Semantics; D013561:Symbolism; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: Addition; Carry effect; Cross-linguistic comparison; Number word inversion; Place-value understanding; Verbal working memory