Abstract
It is argued that bilingual students should not be categorized as a unidimensional group. Their level of competence in each language is important if academic activity is considered. As an example of this, results from the present study indicate that Papua New Guinea bilingual students competent in both their languages scored significantly higher on two different types of mathematical tests compared to collegues who had low competence in their languages. Further, there was some indication that bilingual students competent in both languages performed better than monolingual students, even though the monolingual students attended schools that had many more teaching resources. Such results were seen as support for the new Papua New Guinea govemment policy of using students' original languages in school. The use of the students' original languages may also open the way for easier access to traditional mathematical concepts in classrooms.
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Clarkson, P.C. Language and mathematics: A comparison of bilingual and monolingual students of mathematics. Educ Stud Math 23, 417–429 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302443
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302443