Paola Montufar Soria, fluent in English and Spanish and always interested in math, has made headlines for advancing understanding of how bilingual speakers process math. According to The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Paola was invited to present her findings at a recent SACNAS conference where she won a presentation award.
“Math is often viewed as this kind of third space where language doesn’t matter, but the more I’ve learned, the more I realize language is kind of a framework of understanding of and knowing,” said told UTSA Today. “The more that we know about language, the more we know how it can affect other different types of learning.”
Paola’s research team used electroencephalography to measure memory recall on how bilinguals think through arithmetic. “Our findings suggest that bilingualism does not hinder performance in a second language,” she said.
Paola is a recognized scholar in the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program, which provides grants to institutions like UTSA that develop students from populations underrepresented in biomedical sciences as defined by the National Science Foundation.
For her Ph.D., Paola is attending New York University beginning this fall, where she’ll advance her research on bilingual cognition examining the intersection of language and culture in the math learning experiences of Hispanic/Latino children and families.
“Something that really interests me aside from the psychological, neurobiological foundations of learning is applying this knowledge to educational materials, such as books, toys, and other engaging activities for these children,” Paola told UTSA Today. Watch on YouTube.
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