Neurocognitive mechanisms of mathematics vocabulary processing in L1 and L2 in South African first graders: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Neuroimaging revealed that children engaged additional frontoparietal regions when processing L1 mathematics vocabulary-patterns not detectable through behavioral measures alone. Increased frontal activation suggests that the interpretation of mathematics vocabulary in L2 is not yet automatized. This study demonstrates how educational neuroimaging refines interpretations of behavioral outcomes within multilingual contexts.