De rol van taal bij rekenprestaties in het Nederlands regulier kleuteronderwijs: Taalachtergrond als moderator?

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the relationship between language and arithmetic. In detail, the degree of coherence between performance on a language test (Cito Taal voor kleuters) and an early numeracy test (Utrechtse Getalbegrip Toets 3, UGT 3) is measured. Secondly, this paper aims to answer the question whether this degree of coherence counts for all language backgrounds. Method: To measure the relationship between language and arithmetic, a regression analysis has been used. Secondly, a moderation analysis has been used to investigate whether language background has a moderating effect. Results: Language performance and early numeracy performance are significantly related, with scores on Cito Taal voor kleuters explaining 45% of the variance in scores on the UGT 3. Furthermore, not speaking Dutch at home is significantly and negatively related to the total scores on the UGT 3. In contrast, other home language does not have a significant effect. With regard to the moderation analyses, other home language has been found to have a moderating effect, while not speaking Dutch at home does not have a moderating effect. Discussion: Language plays an important role in arithmetic. When children advance in their language skills, they show a strong growth in their arithmetic skills. This growth is less strong for children with a different home language in general. On the other hand, children who (apart from having a different home language) do not speak Dutch at home, do not differ significantly in their growth compared to children who only speak Dutch at home. In conclusion, children with a different home language start at the same level as other children, but the gap between them becomes bigger, and children who do not speak Dutch at home continue their worse performance.