The relation between mathematics vocabulary and mathematics performance among fourth graders

The Deficit Profile of Elementary Students With Computational Difficulties Versus Word Problem-Solving Difficulties

“…For example, Fuchs et al (2015) found that mathematics vocabulary has a strong correlation with early word problems because mathematics vocabulary helps students comprehend the word problem and build a schema. Peng and Lin (2019) further demonstrated that mathematics vocabulary made a unique contribution to word problem-solving but not to calculation, even after controlling for other cognitive skills and general vocabulary. Thus, it is reasonable to hypothesize that children with WPD may have a more severe deficit in mathematics vocabulary than children with CD.…”

“…Mathematics vocabulary refers to the understanding of key words in mathematics (Hornburg et al, 2018). Recent studies suggest mathematics vocabulary has strong correlations with both computation (Forsyth & Powell, 2017; Powell, Driver, Roberts, & Fall, 2017; Powell & Nelson, 2017) and word problem-solving (Fuchs, Gilbert, Fuchs, Seethaler, & Martin, 2018; Peng & Lin, 2019). However, there are also studies indicating that mathematics vocabulary may be particularly important for word problem-solving.…”

“…For instance, the literal translation of 11 from Chinese into English is “ten-one” and 12 from Chinese to English is “ten-two.” Because of this language advantage, it is easier for Chinese students to learn numerical knowledge (e.g., counting and calculation) than for their peers in the United States (e.g., Miller, Smith, Zhu, & Zhang, 1995). In addition, the procedural-oriented way of classroom instruction in China might also strengthen the automatic retrieval of number facts by repeated practices (Peng & Lin, 2019). As previous research indicated, in China, classroom teaching often starts with the teacher’s model of procedures, followed by repeated practices.…”

Fraction Symbols and their Relation to Conceptual Knowledge

“…Math vocabulary skills are positively related to general vocabulary (Powell & Nelson, 2017;Purpura et al, 2017;Toll & Van Luit, 2014) and word problem-solving skills (Peng & Lin, 2019). Students who perform better on math vocabulary tests outperform their lower scoring peers on measures of general vocabulary and word problem-solving.…”

“…For preschool and kindergarten students, mathematical vocabulary knowledge is related to early number skills (Hornburg et al, 2018;Purpura & Reid, 2016;Toll & Van Luit, 2014), mediates relations between vocabulary and early number skills (Purpura & Reid, 2016;Toll & Van Luit, 2014), and accounts for growth in early number skills (Toll & Van Luit, 2014). Similarly, with school-aged students, mathematical vocabulary knowledge is related to number skills for first through fifth graders (Peng & Lin, 2019;Powell & Nelson, 2017) and mediates some of the relation between vocabulary and word problem solving for second, third and fifth graders (Xu et al , in review;Peng & Lin, 2019). Thus, these findings suggest that fraction learning will also be related to students' general and math-specific vocabulary knowledge.…”