I would agree that children who grow up in a culture of family-own business appear to have an earlier orientation to Math and so do better having such a head start. I do remember in my primary and secondary school days that the Asian students always headed  up the 1, 2, & 3 places in Math.

Best regards,

Debra

In India children start learning math by counting the four division lines in each finger. Thus they become able to count upto 20  in one hand. But in many countries children learn to count only 5 in one hand. Thus Indian children start to learn math faster. 

Most certainly, culture does have an impact as well as level of education of the parents.  I can remember when studying for my Master's degree, a student who strictly observed and practised the Jewish faith requiring additional time off schooling because of participation in expected activities and religious observances.  Likewise, cultures that do not allow or expect girls to learn beyond a basic level, are impacted negatively (in my personal opinion).  Finally, although it is certainly no guarantee, the attitude of the parents towards education and learning can have a tremendous impact on how ready and prepared children are, to learn and seek higher education.

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Thank you George,  Harshvardhan Singh, Debra, Sarada and John for all the responds....I believe that research should be geared into looking at this phenomenon as it may seem trivial however, history has shown that a certain "cultural behaviour and practices" does  has a huge impact on their children. I   grow up in a culture of family-own business, hence I do have  an advantage of  an earlier orientation to Math and  does have  such a head start.... please share some more of your experiences regarding this issue. Thank you  

The works by Frederick Leung are worth checking. He is world authority in this topic with international academic award in this sub-field. Two samples:

Leung, F. K. S. (2006). Mathematics Education in East Asia and the West: Does Culture Matter? In F. S. Leung, K.-D. Graf, & F. Lopez-Real (Eds.), Mathematics Education in Different Cultural Traditions-A Comparative Study of East Asia and the West (Vol. 9, pp. 21-46): Springer US.

Leung, F. K. S., Graf, K.-D., Lopez-Real, F. J., & International Commission on Mathematical Instruction. (2006). Mathematics education in different cultural traditions : a comparative study of East Asia and the West. New York: Springer.

@ Debra. Why Asians usually top?

Some researchers found two non-mutually exclusive reasons:

1. monosyllabic numbers. Normal Asian students would usually remember longer digit numbers

2. number syntax: for example, fractions.   2/3  in English is "Two Third", which does not make much sense. In Asian languages like Chinese Japanese and Korean (it would be "Sam bun eh yi" in Korean) it is rendered as "From 3 parts, 2". This is far more logical and with stronger explanatory power.

I have my own addition to Jewish faith or Indian palm up to twenty sort of arguments : Nagging tiger moms and/or social encouragement to excel plus a tighter family bond

@Jae Park I think, that the language you think and do your mathemmatical actions in, can have a crucial impact on learning of mathematical structures and I think this is a great addition to this discussion. Also, because it has a interdisciplin view on this topic.

In my studies of ethics and philosophy I heard about the impact of a systemised and abstract religious believe on the ability to think in abstracted views. Maybe this also leads to a higher ability to learn mathematics and informatics espacially in cultures with there abstract religous or whatever background. Sadly I can´t remember any author..

@Jae Park I think, that the language you think and do your mathemmatical actions in, can have a crucial impact on learning of mathematical structures and I think this is a great addition to this discussion. Also, because it has a interdisciplin view on this topic.

In my studies of ethics and philosophy I heard about the impact of a systemised and abstract religious believe on the ability to think in abstracted views. Maybe this also leads to a higher ability to learn mathematics and informatics espacially in cultures with there abstract religous or whatever background. Sadly I can´t remember any author..

Dear Jae Pak,

I totally agree with you regardng the way the mathematical concept is pronounced has an impact on the logical understanding of the concept. For example in my language, i.e Malay Language,  two thirds is pronounce as "dua per tiga" , meaning two out of three. Hence the concept of the fraction is self explained by the way it is pronounce... 

Dear Marzita, in our cross-cultural comparisons of school achievement, including mathematics we find higher achievement in Asian cultures where  values of achievement, persustence, duty, self-regulation, learning goals and malleable self concepts are prioritized. Further, parenting styles function as mediating and moderating factors. Therefore, my advise is not only to focus on the global concept of culture but try to "peel the onion" of culture.

Jae, actually, in English and many other languages, fractions are said the same way. In English, "three quarters" means you have three of what was divided in quarters (meaning, divided four ways). Which is a pretty accurate description. In French, "trois quarts." In Italian, "tre quarti." I'd say, all very similar and accurate.

The question of culture is an interesting one. My question might be, why so many famous French mathematicians? Lagrange, L'Hopital, Fourier, Laplace, Descartes, Pascal, Galois, Fermat, and a host of other, somewhat less famous ones, in the 17th-19th centuries?

My personal prejudice is that without mathematical tools at your disposal, most of your assumptions will be hard to impossible to prove. Is this something that certain cultures can instill better than others? The idea that math is an essential tool?

Kia ora (hello) Mazita

Your question has a lot of implications for cross-cultural difference embedded in it. While these differences in cultural norms and values may differ, other factors as the socialization of the individual (what they're exposed to, their environment, opportunities etc) can play a part in they're ability to grasp the subject (concept) of maths.

So cultural (the importance your culture places on maths), individual make-up (biology), socialization, and a range of sub-cultural factors (peer-groups, religious standings within that culture etc) all play a part of how well that individual 'grasps' maths.

Last but not least, by who's yardstick (measure) do we judge what culture is better generally at maths than another? And if we do, is this a generalization that sometimes does not ring true for individuals in that culture for the range of reasons mentioned above? Some cultures appear to excel more than other cultures at maths or learning in general. A big contributing factor to this is the amount of time allocated to that task.... to make it clearer... the only difference between a master and a disciple is 10,000 hours of practice....

Hope this brief scattered analysis has been of help to you Mazita

I think, that we face a much more complex topic, than we assume right now.

1) We have to make sure what we mean with learning mathematics and the potential for that. So the analysis needs to handle the basic proficiencies that are needed to gain mathematical competencies.

That was the reason I thought about religious and cultural abstractions. My idea is, that a central proficiency for learning mathematics is the ability to deal with abstraction. (Maybe I´m wrong ´bout that premise). So if you life in a culture that usually deals with a high abstraction grade (in ethical, religious, social or what ever field) you might have a higher "tolerance" for abstraction, and therefore a higher "starting level" for learning mathematics.

2) To deal with all of that, we would have to find out wich basic proficiencies have an Impact on learning mathematics. Is it abstracion or is it the will to learn or is it....

So needs to be adressed and then we need to find out wich cultures have a higher Level of that, in average..

I think its really interesting and I would really want to know more about the central Topics in there questions. Maybe someone knows some studies...   

Yes, indeed culture has an influence. Learning starts from home. Thus, the same applies for mathematics. If a child has never been engaged in doing some kind of numbers at home-be it counting money or asked to divide a portion of fruit, then it becomes difficult for him to conceptualize the meaning of numbers in the future

Of course, mathematics skills is seen like a family capability, this is a cultural thought. That is no true because mathematics is a language that express some behaviors

Culture impacts the mathematics skills, that's what I perceive from my experience of teaching in three different states of India. Still to my mind it is very basic learning or practical application of maths in life situations.

I do not know, Marzita Puteh, meant of such Mathematics skills. With regard to learning maths, teaching style (may be at home, or in school)makes greater impact with respect to culture, is my experience. 

Yes. Some people generally hold the notion that mathematics is difficult and as such, a child coming from a home with such perception is likely to harbour a certain kind of fear for the subject,

Also, some children may come from places where mathematics is not the centre of attraction in terms of subjects learnt at school. He or she may therefore not be surrounded by the necessary tools needed for development in the subject and may lose interest even if there was interest in the first place. Owing to this, I think certain cultures have an advantage.

Yes, I think culture has a significant impact on one's aptitude; maths skills. If one should carry out a survey one would realize many will respond to questions asked, based on how they were socialized. Therefore, I may show scant regard for "A" while someone from another culture will make a big deal of "A". Math skills will be learnt dependent on several factors, one such being how these skills are taught, especially in the early stages of life.

not necessarily. it depends more upon a persons genetic makeup and involvement in a field where more of calculations are required. business oriented families may have an advantage in this regard

I am sorry: I found this category only today, and I do not know the question which was asked. Beyond this I lost the continuity of publishing in the last two years because of some sorgeries. so I can even not guess what question it was. So.:Who ever it was who put the question, be so kind to repeat it.

Lutz Eckensberger

Dear Lutz Eckensberger,

The question that I put forward was :

Does cultural influences has a huge impact on the the students ability to learn mathematics in general? Does certain culture has an advantage? Edit

Does cultural influences has a huge impact on the the students ability to learn mathematics in general? Does certain culture has an advantage?

The promised article was just published.

Article 375-392Park, J. (2016). Sociocultural concept of high abilit...