2015
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00348
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Word problems: a review of linguistic and numerical factors contributing to their difficulty

Abstract: Word problems (WPs) belong to the most difficult and complex problem types that pupils encounter during their elementary-level mathematical development. In the classroom setting, they are often viewed as merely arithmetic tasks; however, recent research shows that a number of linguistic verbal components not directly related to arithmetic contribute greatly to their difficulty. In this review, we will distinguish three components of WP difficulty: (i) the linguistic complexity of the problem text itself, (ii) … Show more

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Cited by 181 publications
(180 citation statements)
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References 114 publications
(161 reference statements)
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“…Language complexity, the use of unfamiliar words, and even the placement of the question (before or after the narrative) all contribute to that difficulty [9]. Wording and semantic factors have been demonstrated to heavily influence problem difficulty.…”
Section: Math Education: Word Problemsmentioning
confidence: 99%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…Language complexity, the use of unfamiliar words, and even the placement of the question (before or after the narrative) all contribute to that difficulty [9]. Wording and semantic factors have been demonstrated to heavily influence problem difficulty.…”
Section: Math Education: Word Problemsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Mathematical word problems are "presented in the form of a short narrative rather than in mathematical notation" [9]. Compared to numerical computation problems, word problems have "context" in the sense used in this paper.…”
Section: Math Education: Word Problemsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…They should help learners in creating connections between language, problem solving, and mathematical interconnections (Daroczy, Wolska, Meurers & Nuerk, 2015;Jitendra et al, 2007).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In this examination, 32% of the errors made by English second language students, were ascribed to limited language proficiency [18]. Comprehension difficulties may arise from the presence of unfamiliar (low-frequency) words, polysemous words (words or phrases which have more than one or several meanings) and idiomatic or culturally specific lexical references [28].…”
Section: Language and Mathematicsmentioning
confidence: 99%