Taking Language out of the Equation: The Assessment of Basic Math Competence Without Language

While numerical skills are fundamental in modern societies, some estimated 5–7% of
children suffer from mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) that need to be assessed
early to ensure successful remediation. Universally employable diagnostic tools are
yet lacking, as current test batteries for basic mathematics assessment are based on
verbal instructions. However, prior research has shown that performance in mathematics
assessment is often dependent on the testee’s proficiency in the language of instruction
which might lead to unfair bias in test scores. Furthermore, language-dependent
assessment tools produce results that are not easily comparable across countries.
Here we present results of a study that aims to develop tasks allowing to test for
basic math competence without relying on verbal instructions or task content. We
implemented video and animation-based task instructions on touchscreen devices that
require no verbal explanation. We administered these experimental tasks to two samples
of children attending the first grade of primary school. One group completed the tasks
with verbal instructions while another group received video instructions showing a
person successfully completing the task.We assessed task comprehension and usability
aspects both directly and indirectly. Our results suggest that the non-verbal instructions
were generally well understood as the absence of explicit verbal instructions did not
influence task performance. Thus we found that it is possible to assess basic math
competence without verbal instructions. It also appeared that in some cases a single
word in a verbal instruction can lead to the failure of a task that is successfully completed
with non-verbal instruction. However, special care must be taken during task design
because on rare occasions non-verbal video instructions fail to convey task instructions
as clearly as spoken language and thus the latter do not provide a panacea to non-verbal
assessment. Nevertheless, our findings provide an encouraging proof of concept for the
further development of non-verbal assessment tools for basic math competence.