Language Lessons Help with Math Skills

In “Studies Find Language Is Key to Learning Math” , Education Week  (Feb. 17, 2011) Susan Goldin-Meadow, University of Chicago, explains that “profoundly deaf adults in Nicaragua who had not learned a formal sign language could not accurately describe or understand numbers greater than three.” When Goldin-Meadow tested adults who could hear or knew formal sign language, they were able to count without difficulty. Although the study didn’t involve students or young children, the results directly link math and language skill, meaning that intervention for math difficulties must include language help as well. Goldin-Meadow suggests that number lines, rather than fingers, would be better for early learning of math. Knowing how to count, like young children do, doesn’t mean they understand, for example, what  “seven” means.