Abstract
Recent studies have shown that mathematical vocabulary is an important predictor for mathematical performance in kindergartners, primary school students, and secondary school students (e.g., King & Purpura, 2021; Peng & Lin, 2019; Ünal et al., 2021). However, a recent meta-analysis showed that mathematical vocabulary might be more important in some mathematical domains than in others (Peng et al., 2020). The current manuscript focusses on proportional reasoning, a mathematical subdomain containing a high amount of proportional vocabulary (a subtype of mathematical vocabulary), and consists of two studies. The first study describes the development of an instrument specially created to measure proportional vocabulary, as there was no good instrument available. The results provide indications that the scores on our new proportional vocabulary task are valid and reliable. This instrument was used in a second study to investigate whether second graders’ proportional vocabulary is associated with (1) proportional reasoning abilities, and (2) performance on proportional and additive word problems. The results showed that after controlling for gender, age and class, proportional vocabulary uniquely contributed to proportional reasoning abilities and performance on both proportional and additive word problems.
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Data availability statement: The materials and data supporting the findings of this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AHNVC.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Marie Lievens, for hel** with the data collection.
Funding
This research was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research – Flanders (project G047023N). This funding source had no involvement in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
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Karen De Keersmaeker: Data curation, Formal Analysis, Validation, Writing—original draft, Writing – review and editing. Elien Vanluydt: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review and editing. Patrick Onghena: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Writing – review and editing. Wim Van Dooren: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing – review and editing.
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Karen De Keersmaeker. Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology, Dekenstraat 2, Box 3773, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: karen.dekeersmaekeruleuven.be
Current themes of research:
Psychology of mathematics education.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:
De Keersmaeker, K., Van Hoof, J., & Van Dooren, W. (2023). The relationship between primary school children’s inhibition and the processing of rational numbers. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 38, 1527-1549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-022-00669-y
Dr. Elien Vanluydt. Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology, Dekenstraat 2, Box 3773, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail:
Current themes of research:.
Psychology of mathematics education. Early development of core mathematical competencies. Proportional reasoning. Additive reasoning.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:
Vanluydt, E., Degrande, T., Verschaffel, L., & Van Dooren, W. (2020). Early stages of proportional reasoning: A cross-sectional study with 5-to 9-year olds. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 35(3), 529–549.
Vanluydt, E., Verschaffel, L., & Van Dooren, W. (2022a). The Early Development of Proportional Reasoning: A Longitudinal Study of 5- to 8-Year-Olds. Journal of Educational Psychology, 14(6), 1343–1358.
Vanluydt, E., Verschaffel, L., & Van Dooren, W. (2022b). The role of relational preference in word-problem solving in 6- to 7-year-olds. Educational Studies in Mathematics.
Vanluydt, E., Supply, A., Verschaffel, L., & Van Dooren, W. (2021). The importance of specific mathematical language for early proportional reasoning. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55, 193-200.
Prof. Dr. Patrick Onghena. Methodology of Educational Sciences Research Group, Vesaliusstraat 2, Box 3762, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail:.
Current themes of research:
Probabilistic reasoning in children. Single-case experimental research. Distribution-free statistical inference. Mixed methods research synthesis. Metascience.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:
Castro Sotos, A.E., Vanhoof, S., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Onghena, P. (2007). Students' misconceptions of statistical inference: A review of the empirical evidence from research on statistics education. Educational Research Review, 2, 98-113.
Lem, S., Onghena, P., Verschaffel, L., Van Dooren, W. (2013). The heuristic interpretation of box plots. Learning and Instruction, 26(4), 22-35.
Luwel, K., Verschaffel, L., Onghena, P., & De Corte, E. (2001). Strategic aspects of children's numerosity judgement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 16(2), 233-255.
Saenen, L., Van Dooren, W., & Onghena, P. (2015). A randomized Monty Hall experiment: The positive effect of conditional frequency feedback. Thinking & Reasoning, 21(2), 176-192.
Prof. Dr. Wim Van Dooren. Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology, Dekenstraat 2, Box 3773, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail:
Current themes of research:
Mathematical word problem solving. Mathematics education. Statistical reasoning. Conceptual change. Intuitions and biases in reasoning.
Most relevant publications in the field of Psychology of Education:
Van Dooren, W., De Bock, D., Verschaffel, L. (2010). From addition to multiplication...and back. The development of students’ additive and multiplicative reasoning skills. Cognition and Instruction, 28(3), 360–381.
Van Dooren, W., De Bock, D., Hessels, A., Janssens, D., Verschaffel, L. (2004). Remedying secondary school students’ illusion of linearity: a teaching experiment aiming at conceptual change. Learning and Instruction,14(5), 485–501.
Van Hoof, J., Verschaffel, L., Van Dooren, W. (2015). Inappropriately applying natural number properties in rational number tasks: characterizing the development of the natural number bias through primary and secondary education. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90(1), 39–56.
Obersteiner, A., Van Dooren, W., Van Hoof, J., Verschaffel, L. (2013). The natural number bias and magnitude representation in fraction comparison by expert mathematicians. Learning and Instruction, 28, 64–72.
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De Keersmaeker, K., Vanluydt, E., Onghena, P. et al. The relation between proportional vocabulary and proportional reasoning abilities in young children. Eur J Psychol Educ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00767-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00767-5