Effects of Linguistic Complexity and Math Difficulty on Word Problem Solving by English Learners

Barbu, Otilia C.; Beal, Carole R.

doi:10.5296/ije.v2i2.508

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Some students would say that they do not know how to begin with because they do not understand what the problem was all about. This finding is supported by [20] when he revealed that linguistic difficulty had a significant influence on students' perceptions of the mathematical difficulty of the problem. And English learners lower performance in mathematics reflects the additional cognitive demands associated with text comprehension.…”

Section: On Problem Representationsupporting

confidence: 72%

Post Secondary Students’ Level of Proficiency in Solving Real World Problems in Mathematics

Pascual¹,

Pedro²

2018

JAMP

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The problem solving competency is the primary goal in all mathematics education curricula. It is acquired by solving mathematical problems belonging either to routine or non-routine category. The study describes the post-secondary students' levels of proficiency in solving non-routine math problems. The three-stage process in solving mathematics problems by Mayer was used as the frame of analysis. Using the data generated from researcher made instruments, and semi-structured interview of 50 purposively selected participants, the study found that: Majority of the participants showed "good proficiency" in "problem representation" and "problem solving", the real world problems in Math. It is also revealed that those who are good in problem representation phase are also good in problem solution phase. In general, participants do not always consider answer verification phase as important in the process of solving real world problems in math. The most common difficulties encountered by participants are: language inadequacy and unfamiliarity with the context of the problems. The researchers recommended that the same study be done in some other context and local and if the results are consistent with this study, may consider redesigning new curriculum in post-secondary mathematics education.

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Section: On Problem Representationsupporting

confidence: 72%

Post Secondary Students’ Level of Proficiency in Solving Real World Problems in Mathematics

Pascual¹,

Pedro²

2018

JAMP

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“…Cirett and Beal () found that English Learners’ performance on math word problem solving declined in direct relation to the complexity of the English text, whereas text complexity did not influence the performance of English Primary students. Other studies have shown that English Learners perform better on versions of word problems that contain simplified English relative to problems that involve the same mathematical operations but are expressed in more complex language (Abedi & Lord, ; Barbu & Beal, ; Bernardo & Calleja, ).…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Effect of Test Translation on the Performance of Second Grade English Learners on the KeyMath‐3

Alt

Arizmendi

Beal

et al. 2012

Psychology in the Schools

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This study was conducted to determine whether Spanish‐enhanced administration of a standardized math assessment would result in improved scores for English Learners who used Spanish as a heritage language. Twenty‐one typically developing second‐graders (English Learners) were administered the traditional KeyMath‐3. If the child made an error on an item, a Spanish version of the item was presented. Difference scores were calculated to determine whether the Spanish‐enhanced version resulted in improved scores. Data were analyzed using paired t‐tests and simple regression. The data results showed that all children significantly benefited from the Spanish‐enhanced administration of items answered incorrectly in English. The amount of benefit was predicted by a child's degree of Spanish dominance. It was concluded that standardized math tests that do not accommodate second‐language learners may be inadvertently testing language skills in addition to math skills. Implications for assessment and interpretations of assessments are discussed.

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“…According to this theory, 'performance on complex cognitive tasks depends on whether the amount of information presented to the [student] equals or exceeds the availability of working memory' (Barbu, 2010: 4). What this theory implies is that the devotion of cognitive resources to comprehending text would reduce the cognitive resources available for mathematical problem solving (Barbu, 2010;Lucangeli, Tressoldi & Cendron, 1998).…”

Section: Second Language Acquisition and English As A Medium Of Instrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematical literacy examination items and student errors: An analysis of English Second Language students’ responses

Vale¹,

Murray²,

Brown³

2013

Per Ling.

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Mathematical literacy is a real-world practical attribute yet students write a high-stakes examination in order to pass the subject Mathematical Literacy in the National Certificates (Vocational) (NC(V)). In these examinations, all sources of information are contextualised in language. It can be effortful for English second language students to decode text. The deliberate processing that is required saturates working memory and prevents these students from optimally engaging in problem solving. In this study, 15 items from an NC(V) Level 4 Mathematical Literacy examination are selected, as well as 15 student responses to each of these questions. From these responses, those which are incorrect are analysed to determine whether the error is due to insufficient mathematical literacy or a lack of English language proficiency. These results are used as an indication as to whether the examination is fair and valid for this group of students.

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Effects of Linguistic Complexity and Math Difficulty on Word Problem Solving by English Learners

Cited by 27 publications

References 51 publications

Post Secondary Students’ Level of Proficiency in Solving Real World Problems in Mathematics

Post Secondary Students’ Level of Proficiency in Solving Real World Problems in Mathematics

The Effect of Test Translation on the Performance of Second Grade English Learners on the KeyMath‐3

Mathematical literacy examination items and student errors: An analysis of English Second Language students’ responses

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