The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.

Bilingualism is ubiquitous around the world. Knowing two languages inevitably leads to language contact, giving rise to phenomenon of code switching and code mixing. Past research have indicated a bilingual advantage in executive functions, attributing it to bilinguals’ habitual language switching...

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Main Author: Wong, Wing Sheung.
Other Authors: Qu Li
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2012
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/48886
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-488862019-12-10T14:51:17Z The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability. Wong, Wing Sheung. Qu Li School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Social sciences Bilingualism is ubiquitous around the world. Knowing two languages inevitably leads to language contact, giving rise to phenomenon of code switching and code mixing. Past research have indicated a bilingual advantage in executive functions, attributing it to bilinguals’ habitual language switching which utilises more executive resources. The more a person engages in code mixing in daily life, the better he or she performs in executive tasks and task switching. These executive functions are also associated with higher levels of mathematics learning and ability. On the other hand, mathematical ability is also related to language ability. Given the traditional opposing belief that code mixing causes poor language proficiency, one would wonder if it is true that lifelong code mixing practices have an impact on mathematical ability. Hence, this current study investigates whether the benefits of code mixing ability extend to solving mathematics questions in mixed languages. Due to the benefits of code mixing ability, it is predicted that better performance scores are obtained in the mixed condition as compared to one language condition. However, there is a traditional belief that code mixing is detrimental and should not used in teaching at all. Therefore, an alternate hypothesis proposes that participants will perform better if they are exposed to only one language while learning mathematics. Support was found for the latter hypothesis; marginal significance was found in the English condition over the mixed condition. This shows support for Singapore’s current method of mathematical teaching in one language, and that code mixing is not yet ready to be used seriously in learning mathematics until further benefits have been found for Singapore. Bachelor of Arts 2012-05-10T07:13:07Z 2012-05-10T07:13:07Z 2012 2012 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/48886 en Nanyang Technological University 55 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Social sciences
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences
Wong, Wing Sheung.
The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
description Bilingualism is ubiquitous around the world. Knowing two languages inevitably leads to language contact, giving rise to phenomenon of code switching and code mixing. Past research have indicated a bilingual advantage in executive functions, attributing it to bilinguals’ habitual language switching which utilises more executive resources. The more a person engages in code mixing in daily life, the better he or she performs in executive tasks and task switching. These executive functions are also associated with higher levels of mathematics learning and ability. On the other hand, mathematical ability is also related to language ability. Given the traditional opposing belief that code mixing causes poor language proficiency, one would wonder if it is true that lifelong code mixing practices have an impact on mathematical ability. Hence, this current study investigates whether the benefits of code mixing ability extend to solving mathematics questions in mixed languages. Due to the benefits of code mixing ability, it is predicted that better performance scores are obtained in the mixed condition as compared to one language condition. However, there is a traditional belief that code mixing is detrimental and should not used in teaching at all. Therefore, an alternate hypothesis proposes that participants will perform better if they are exposed to only one language while learning mathematics. Support was found for the latter hypothesis; marginal significance was found in the English condition over the mixed condition. This shows support for Singapore’s current method of mathematical teaching in one language, and that code mixing is not yet ready to be used seriously in learning mathematics until further benefits have been found for Singapore.
author2 Qu Li
author_facet Qu Li
Wong, Wing Sheung.
format Final Year Project
author Wong, Wing Sheung.
author_sort Wong, Wing Sheung.
title The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
title_short The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
title_full The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
title_fullStr The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
title_full_unstemmed The effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
title_sort effects of bilinguals' code mixing on mathematical ability.
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/48886
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