Early-number interventions may emphasize number words in full sentence contexts alongside counting contexts, and vocabulary-building may aid number-concept development.¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The authors propose that future number-learning interventions could "emphasize the use of number words in full sentence contexts" (e.g., "I can see three bears on the carpet, and two of the bears are brown") together with counting contexts ("How many bears? One, two, three."), to exploit linguistic cues. They also suggest dual-language learners may acquire number concepts more easily in the language where their vocabulary is greater, and that vocabulary-building interventions might be considered a potential aid to number-concept development.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• findings that vocabulary and number-word knowledge are linked, which the authors present as motivation

Constraints¶

• the authors frame these as possibilities for interventions still to be tested, not demonstrated effects

Target Learners¶

• preschoolers
• young dual-language learners

Target Learning Goals¶

• number-concept acquisition
• vocabulary development

Claims¶

• Number-word knowledge is strongly correlated with expressive vocabulary, independent of age, in children aged 30–60 months. [+W]
• Both receptive and expressive vocabulary correlate with number-word knowledge independent of age, replicating Experiment 1. [+W]
• Vocabulary adds significantly to predicting knower-level after age, but age does not add after vocabulary, suggesting age does not mediate the vocabulary–number-knowledge link. [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Negen, J., & Sarnecka, B. W. (2012). Number-Concept Acquisition and General Vocabulary Development. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01815.x