Emergent math difficulties among English learners: can the odds be reduced?

Solving word problems in mathematics presents difficulties for many English learners (ELs), including those who use Spanish as a home language. In the early stage of learning to solve mathematics word problems, some children, including ELs, experience difficulties. By English status, EL refers to those children whose home language was Spanish while in the process of developing English at school. Math difficulties (MD) refers to those children with low normative mathematical problem-solving scores in both English and Spanish. The purpose of this study was to determine those measures that increase the odds of identifying EL children with emergent MD. Elementary school children (grades 1, 2, and 3) were administered a battery of math, vocabulary, reading, and cognitive measures (short-term memory [STM], inhibition, working memory [WM]) in both Spanish (L1) and English (L2) in Year 1 and again one year later. Multilevel growth modeling compared MD children identified one year later who manifested MD to children who were average math achievers or poor math achievers across the two testing waves (year 1 and year 2). The results indicated that significant growth parameters (i.e., measures of estimation, WM) increased the odds of identifying emergent MD relative to children with Persistent math deficits and average achievers. The results were discussed in terms of a multidimensional model that taps domain-specific skills and general cognitive processes that increase the odds of identifying later math difficulties.

Working memory growth predicts mathematical problem-solving growth among emergent bilingual children.

An area of mathematics found to be difficult for emergent bilingual children whose first language (L1) is Spanish in the United States is solving mathematical word problems. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between growth in the executive component of working memory (WM) and growth in mathematical word-problem solving in children whose L1 is Spanish. Elementary school children (Grades 1, 2, and 3) were administered a battery of mathematical, vocabulary, reading, and cognitive measures (short-term memory [STM], inhibition, and WM) in both Spanish (L1) and English (second language [L2]) in Year 1 and again 1 year later. Multilevel growth modeling showed that growth in WM significantly predicted growth in L1 and L2 mathematical word-problem solving. Furthermore, the contributions of WM to mathematical word-problem-solving growth in both L1 and L2 were independent of language skills in vocabulary, reading, estimation, naming speed, inhibition, STM, and calculation. Overall, the results suggest that the mental activities that underlie WM play a significant role in predictions of L1 and L2 mathematical word-problem-solving accuracy.