The contribution of general language ability, reading comprehension and working memory to mathematics achievement among children with English as additional language (EAL): an exploratory study

Figures & data

Table 1. Results of a series of ANOVA and MANOVA comparing EAL and FLE mathematics test total mathematics and component scores.

Measure		EAL	FLE	F	p-value	Effect size partial η^2
		Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Total mathematics score		10.43 (4.2)	12.38 (5.6)	n.s.
Wordless arithmetic score		1.91 (1.25)	2.36 (1.64)	n.s.
Total word-based score		8.27 (3.2)	10.52 (3.8)	6.543	.013*	.095
Word-based component scores	Number	2.46 (1.9)	4.48 (4.4)	6.153	.016*	.088
	Shapes & measures	2.62 (1.33)	2.84 (1.86)	n.s.
	Data display	3.62 (1.23)	3.88 (1.21)	n.s.

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 2. Results of Mann Whitney U-tests comparing EAL and FLE reading comprehension, single word reading, general language ability and working memory.

Measure	EAL	FLE	Z	p-value	Effect size (r)
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Reading comprehension (YARC)	39.32 (8.7)	50.23 (6.9)	2.172	.030*	.27
SWRT (YARC)	39.34 (12.90)	47.94 (7.38)	2.690	.007**	.33
General language ability (C-test)	34.78 (17.66)	48.81 (18.85)	3.201	<.001***	.39
Working memory	12.49 (6.09)	14.29 (4.86)	1.613	.107	.20

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 3. Correlations between reading comprehension, SWRT scores, language ability, working memory and mathematics word-based score.

	Word-based mathematics Problem solving score
	EAL group	FLE group
Reading comprehension score	.642**	.296
SWRT score	.478**	.394*
General language ability (C-test) score	.450**	.460**
Working memory score	.374*	.484**

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 4. Regression analysis of word-based mathematics scores – all learners.

	Model 1			Model 2
Variable	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β
Working memory	.259	.079	.394**	.156	.069	.237*
Reading comprehension				.201	.039	.539***
R^2	.155			.421
R^2 change	.155			.266
F for change in R^2	10.858**			26.658***

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 5. Regression analysis of word-based mathematics scores – FLE learners.

	Model 1			Model 2
Variable	B	SE B	β	B	SE B	β
Working memory	.396	.126	.505**	.317	.114	.404**
Language ability				.090	.029	.446**
R^2	.255			.443
R^2 change	.255			.188
F for change in R^2	9.907**			9.464**

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 6. Regression analysis of word-based mathematics scores – EAL learners.

	Model 1
Variable	B	SE B	β
Reading comprehension	.241	.051	.661
R^2	.436
R^2 change	.436
F for change in R^2	22.458***

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 7. Correlations between language ability, reading comprehension and SWRT for FLE learners.

	SWRT	Reading comprehension	Language ability (C-test)
SWRT	*
Reading comprehension	.524**	*
Language ability (C-test)	.696***	.313	*

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.

Table 8. Correlations between language ability, reading comprehension and SWRT for EAL learners.

	SWRT	Reading comprehension	Language ability (C-test)
SWRT	*
Reading comprehension	.536**	*
Language ability (C-test)	.750***	.693	*

*Significant at the .05 level 2-tailed **significant at the .01 level 2-tailed ***significant at the .001 level 2-tailed.