The Influences of Different Number Languages on Numeracy Learning

Number naming systems connect number words to quantities. For example, in English, the word eleven is used for the quantity that is also represented as 11 in Arabic digits. Number naming systems include words for both small (e.g., one, three) and large quantities (e.g., hundred, thousand), plus rules for combining them (e.g., 346 is three hundred and forty-six). Because each language has its own number naming system, studying these systems allows us to examine how language and culture affect numerical thinking. Examining how number languages influence number learning is important because mathematical competencies vary across cultures that have different languages. For example, children who speak Asian languages that have regular number naming systems (e.g., Chinese, Japanese) appear to acquire counting and place-value knowledge earlier than children who speak languages like English and French, which have irregular number naming systems (see more on irregular versus regular number naming systems below; Aunio, Aubrey, Godfrey, Pan, & Liu, 2008; Dehaene, 1997; Fuson & Kwon, 1992; Geary, Bow-Thomas, Liu, & Siegler, 1996; Miller, Smith, Zhu, & Zhang, 1995). In this article, we explain how number languages may influence children and adults’ numeracy performance.