The relations between Chinese literacy skills and mathematics

Abstract

Literacy skills and mathematics have been found to be related in previous studies. However, those studies were mainly conducted in Western countries. This study investigated Chinese literacy skills including phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and oral language in relation to mathematical achievement among Chinese elementary school children in Hong Kong. The relations were hypothesized to be mediated by two domains of mediators, namely reading skills (i.e., word reading and reading comprehension) and mathematical skills (i.e., basic number knowledge, basic arithmetic operations, and geometry). A path model which linked up the Chinese literacy skills and later mathematical achievement was proposed. Results indicated that phonological awareness, morphological awareness, and oral language were related to later mathematical achievement via reading skills and/or mathematical skills. Findings of this study provided useful directions for helping students with weaknesses in mathematics through the integration of Chinese literacy skills, reading skills, and mathematical skills.