The effect of languages on the production and recognition of numbers in German-French bilinguals

Poster (2014, April)

How do bilinguals produce and recognize two-digit number words? We investigated this question at different language proficiency levels in German-French bilinguals. German two-digit number words indeed ... [more ▼]

How do bilinguals produce and recognize two-digit number words? We investigated this question at different language proficiency levels in German-French bilinguals. German two-digit number words indeed follow the unit-decade order, whereas in French the order is decade-unit. Our study was conducted in Luxembourg where pupils learn both languages at primary school. Moreover mathematics are taught in German at primary school but in French at secondary school. Pupils from grades 5 (primary school), 8 (beginning of secondary school) and 11 (middle of secondary school) performed two numerical tasks: In the number recognition task, participants were presented a spoken number word that they had to recognize among four visually presented Arabic numbers. In the number production task, participants had to pronounce visually presented Arabic numbers. Both tasks were performed in German and in French and we compared language-related performance differences for the 3 levels of language proficiencies. Participants of all levels recognized and produced number-words more efficiently in their dominant language (i.e. German). However, this advantage for the dominant language was especially prominent at the lowest level of language proficiency when mathematics education was implemented in the dominant language (i.e. German). Furthermore, performance levels decreased with increasing number size, but over and above this general trend, participants of all proficiency levels showed specific difficulties with the complex structure of French number words over 60. Taken together, these results support the view that number and language processing are tightly associated, since language proficiency and language structure influence very simple and basic numerical tasks. [less ▲]

Istzustand und Ausbau der Épreuves Standardisées (ÉpStan)

Presentation (2014, January)

Need for Cognition: Messinvarianz, Domänenspezifität, Stabilität und prädiktive Validität

Presentation (2014, January)

ÉpStan Technical Report

Book published by University of Luxembourg (2014)

Item Development and Test Compilation

in Fischbach, Antoine; Ugen, Sonja; Martin, Romain (Eds.) ÉpStan Technical Report (2014)

LEARN stellt sech fier

E-print/Working paper (2013)

The influence of language on exact additions in bilinguals.

Scientific Conference (2013, May)

To which degree is language involved in arithmetic and dependent on language proficiency? We investigated this question in a German-French educational bilingual setting in Luxembourg, where there is a ... [more ▼]

To which degree is language involved in arithmetic and dependent on language proficiency? We investigated this question in a German-French educational bilingual setting in Luxembourg, where there is a progressive transition from German to French as a teaching language. Due to this shift, students become increasingly more proficient in the non-dominant language (French) throughout the school years. Interestingly, the decades and units of two-digit number names follow the unit-decade order in German but the decade-unit order in French. Students from grades 7, 8, 10, 11, and German-French adults (total N = 200) solved simple and complex additions presented in different conditions: (1) visual Arabic digits, (2) auditory presentation, and (3) as a dual task in which visually presented additions were preceded by visually presented semantic judgements to indirectly activate a language context. Participants performed each condition in a German and a French testing session. Participants were asked to respond orally in the testing language. Measures include correct responses and response times. The results suggest that language proficiency is crucial for the computation of complex additions, whereas simple additions can be retrieved equally well in both languages. Furthermore, additional error analyses showed more errors on the decade or on the unit digit depending on the language of the task. However, providing a language context seems to enhance performances only in the non-dominant language. Taken together, these results support the view of a strong language influence on arithmetic. [less ▲]

The influence of language on exact additions in bilingual pupils and adults.

Poster (2013, March)

To which degree is language involved in arithmetic? We investigated this question in a German-French bilingual setting. In Luxembourg, bilingualism is acquired through education: mathematics are taught in ... [more ▼]

To which degree is language involved in arithmetic? We investigated this question in a German-French bilingual setting. In Luxembourg, bilingualism is acquired through education: mathematics are taught in German in primary and in French in secondary school. Interestingly, the decades and units within two-digit number names follow the unit-decade order in German but the decade-unit order in French. We studied our research question in the multi-lingual educational context of Luxembourg by applying a developmental design. The present sample (total N = 200) included students from grades 7, 8, 10 and 11, as well as an adult bilingual group. This sample takes advantage of following the progressive transition from German to French as teaching languages. All participants performed simple and complex additions that they had to orally respond either in German or in French. Additions were presented in different conditions: (1) visual Arabic presentation, (2) auditory presentation (in German or in French), and (3) as a dual task in which visually presented additions were preceded by visually presented semantic judgements to indirectly activate a German or French language context. The results suggested that language proficiency seems to be crucial for the computation of more complex calculations, whereas simple additions can be retrieved equally well in both languages. Taken together, these results support the view of a strong language impact on calculations. Further results and implications will be discussed. [less ▲]

PISA 2012 – Ziele der Studie und methodische Grundlagen

in SCRIPT; EMACS (Eds.) PISA 2012. Nationaler Bericht Luxemburg (2013)

Unterschiede zwischen Schulformen und das Pilotprojekt PROCI

in SCRIPT; EMACS (Eds.) PISA 2012. Nationaler Bericht Luxemburg (2013)