Monolingual and Bilingual Children’s Speed and Accuracy in Arithmetic Fluency

Arithmetic fluency is a foundational skill in early mathematical development that reflects both processing efficiency and accuracy under time constraints. Although bilingual experience has been linked to differences in cognitive performance, its relation to arithmetic fluency remains poorly understood. The present study examined arithmetic fluency in monolingual and bilingual first- and second-grade students (N = 118) to assess whether bilingual experience is associated with differences in the speed and accuracy components of early arithmetic performance. Children completed a timed addition and subtraction task and a measure of verbal fluency in English; bilingual children also completed verbal fluency in their home language. Distinct patterns emerged across grades. In first grade, bilingual children solved more problems within the time limit than monolingual children, despite comparable accuracy. In second grade, monolingual children showed higher accuracy than bilingual children despite comparable speed. Verbal fluency in either language was not associated with arithmetic fluency in either grade. These findings suggest that bilingual experience may relate differently to efficiency and accuracy across early development and point to the possibility that the cognitive mechanisms supporting arithmetic performance may vary as children gain arithmetic skill.