A Study On The Relation Between Family Math Language Policy And Early Math Competence Of Preschoolers

Children’s early language development is greatly influenced by family language policies,and general language is a prerequisite for mathematics learning.Previous studies have demonstrated that math language mediates the relation between general language and early math skills.Math language predicts mathematical performance;the more math language input children get;the better math achievement children perform.Nevertheless,all of the findings above are based on studies abroad.Relevant studies on Chinese families,particularly rural families,are lacking.The investigations of math language policies of Chinese rural families still leave many questions unanswered.In this research,240 children from the senior grade of five kindergartens in the Yimeng Area,ranging in age from 5 to 7,were chosen as the participants to take the math test.After that,the parents of those children were asked to complete a questionnaire about three aspects of family language policy: language ideology,management,and practice.Two hundred and five pairs of data were finally gathered for the sample.In order to evaluate the children’s mathematical and math language policies of these families,data of test scores and questionnaires were conducted by SPSS 23.0 quantitatively through descriptive statistical analysis,independent sample t-test,and multiple response analysis.Finally,by constructing a structural equation model through AMOS 28.0,the hypothetical model of the relationship between family math language policy and children’s early math competence was verified.The following four questions were addressed in the study by data analysis:1)What features are there in the math language policies of rural families in the Yimeng Area? Are there any gender differences?2)What is the general level of children’s math competence in the research? Does a child’s gender affect how well he/ she performs on math tests?3)What is the relationship between the ideology of math language,math language practice,and math language management?4)Are there any relations between family math language policy and children’s early math skills? Among the three components of family math language policy,which factor has the most significant impact on children’s early math competence?The main findings of the research are as follows.First,the current research shows an imbalance in the math language policies of rural families.There is a significant gender gap in family math language practice.Second,there is a significant gender gap in children’s math competence in the research,with boys exceeding girls.Third,constructing the structural equation model validates the relationship that the three elements of family math language policy are interrelated.Fourth,the relation between family math language policy and math competence is interpreted by SEM.In FLP,only math language practices in families could predict children’s mathematical competence,while the predictive effects of the other two elements on math competence do not reach the level of significance.Future studies on family math language policies and language education in rural areas will benefit from the findings,which also have substantial methodological and practical implications.As for researchers,FLP has significant advantages in analyzing math language uses and could be applied as an experimental paradigm.Also,it is an expansion of the initial conceptual theory.Regarding language education in rural families,parents need to be aware of the significance of implementing family math language policies on children’ s math development and the necessity of improving the quality of math language in the family learning environment.Besides,language policymakers can learn about the state of language education in rural families and modify language policies to enhance the setting in which children learn languages.Also,it provides some enlightens and reference for similar studies in other rural areas of China.