The Development of Knowledge Concerning Written Arithmetic: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract This study is concerned with the manner in which Western mathematics is assimilated by children raised in traditional African cultures. It was predicted that after an initial period of difficulty in learning school arithmetic, African children (Baoule and Dioula from the Ivory Coast) acquire basic concepts, develop invented strategies, and make errors similar to those of American children. Further, it was predicted that Dioula children, since they are members of a commercial culture, perform at a somewhat higher level than the Baoule, members of a farming culture which does not seem to stress computational activity. To investigate these hypotheses, American, Baoule, and Dioula children at two age levels were given a variety of arithmetic problems involving basic skills (e.g., reading numbers), number knowledge (e.g., place value), and calculationl abilities (e.g., written computation). The results showed that, in general, older African and American children (fifth-and sixth-graders) were quite si...