The effects of early mathematical interventions for 3–5-year-old multilingual children: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Multilingual children seem to lag behind their monolingual peers in early mathematical skills. To examine the current state of research on supporting multilingual children’s early mathematical skills, a meta-analytic review was conducted. A systematic review of 24 articles on early mathematical interventions for 3-5-year-old multilingual participants found numeracy to be the primary focus followed by geometry, measurement and patterns. In examining specific instructional features related to multilingual participants, the most commonly employed approach was the use of mathematical language. However, there is an opportunity to implement more interventions utilizing children’s home language and culturally responsive instructional approach. A meta-analysis was conducted on a subset of 17 studies that provided enough data for calculating effect size. The average weighted effect size was small (g = 0.46, 95% CI 0.32, 0.59). The effect was smaller compared to previous meta-analyses with monolingual participants. Our findings suggest that there is a need for better support for multilingual children's early mathematical skills. Shifting from a monolingual perspective to a multilingual could help better address the needs of the learners from diverse language backgrounds.