4세 유아의 수세기 기술과 어머니의 수 단어 사용: 유아 수 단어 사용의 매개효과

Four-Year-Old Children’s Counting Skills and Their Mothers’ Use of Number Words: The Mediating Role of Children’s Number Word Use

Objective: This study examines the relationships among four-year-olds’ counting skills, their use of number words, and their mothers’ use of number words during mother-child free play. Specifically, we assess whether children’s use of number words mediates the relationship between their counting skills and their mothers’ use of number words during play. Methods: Forty-two 4-year-old children and their mothers were asked to play freely with a given set of toys at their home for 10 minutes. Children also completed a counting skill test. Frequencies of number word use were calculated for mothers and children from transcriptions of the free play. Results: Children’s counting skills, the frequency of their number word use, and their mothers’ frequency of number word use were positively correlated with each other. Additionally, the frequency of children’s number-word use completely mediated the relationship between their counting skills and their mothers’ frequency of number-word use. Conclusion/Implications: The results suggest that children’s use of number language may play a crucial role in the provision of number-related language input by parents, based on their children’s math skills. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.