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While there are usually very strong correlations between higher math skills, and literacy skills -- they are not inextricably linked. It is possible to develop logical reasoning, and conceptualization skills in math; without the need for higher-order language skills. Similarly, it's quite common for people to develop higher-order language skills, without also developing their math skills. Just look, for instance, at any college English literature, journalism, " __ - Studies" class. You probably won't find many with higher-order math skills there.

On a lighter note, something like this saying has been popular among young engineering students for decades:

(It's an irreverent poke at Liberal Arts majors, who often accuse Engineering students of being illiterate. Of course, practicing engineers usually have to be very good report writers.)

Yeah, I know that language skills do not necessarily correlate to high math skills.

My brother was very good at math and tested out of all but the highest level calculus his freshman year, but he hated it. My nephew is the same way, majored in actuarial science, and worked at it for a year before going back to school for graduate degree in psychology.

My point was that some other poster claimed that if the schools could raise the cultural level of some of the minorities and teach them to speak good English, they would also develop math skills. I said, no way.

LOL! That’s very true.

I think the issue of conceptualization is the essence of it. I worked with severely aphasic children, and while people think of this as a speech disorder, it is much more profound and reflects a fundamental inability to form or express concepts, including spatial concepts.

Mathematical operations may have been intelligible as long as there was a physical connection or reference point, but they couldn’t really grasp the concept.

In the case of most of these kids, their problem was obviously hard-wired. They were perfectly normal or even above average in intelligence, which you could tell by the questions they asked and random things they said, but they simply couldn’t master or retain verbal concepts.

And we had two or three from “minority” backgrounds who were high-scoring for our group but in trouble in their regular classrooms. They had obviously been placed in our classroom because their parents cared about them and even if the parents were barely functional, they had good attitudes, asked for help and didn’t blame their child’s failure on the “system.”

They wanted help for their children. At the same time, we had black parents suing because their kids had been placed in special ed...which was actually the best place for them, and where they would have gotten the most help. Go figure.