Abstract:

This paper discusses a descriptive and inductive analysis of the differences in simple mathematical reasoning between pupils with and without dyslexia. These types of reasoning were analysed based on a test from CERMAT (Educational Research Center, a state-funded institution controlled by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports). Each test item was classified either as 1 - correct answer or 0 - wrong answer. Because of this type of coding it was possible to interpret the arithmetic mean of the measured values as a suitable score estimation of the p-parameter of the alternative distribution, which represents the probability with which a chosen pupil will answer the question correctly. The research described was conducted with pupils who in the school year 2016/2017 attended the fifth grade of the basic school in the Czech Republic (40 pupils with dyslexia and 40 pupils without dyslexia). For the purpose of this study the author intentionally chose pupils who were on the stage of formal operational reasoning. An assumption was made during the research that pupils without dyslexia will be in the test which was focused on basic mathematical operations more successful than pupils with dyslexia. This assumption, however, wasn’t supported by the data. The results show correlation between success in the mathematical test and reading literacy level. The ascertain correlation (r = 0,58) is significant at 5 % significance level and it marks moderate dependence.

Keywords:

Mathematical reasoning, reading literacy level, metacognition, metacognitive monitoring.