scholarly journals An exploration of the teaching and learning of mathematics word problems in English to second language grade 8 learners in the Mafukuzela-Gandhi Circuit

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Annaleah Pooran
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Word Problems ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
National Language ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Mathematics Word Problems ◽  
Mathematics Educators ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Grade 8

The abolition of apartheid in South Africa in the late 1980s and the advent of democracy in 1994 resulted in dramatic changes in the education system. Of great significance to this study is the freedom African parents were allowed in choosing the medium of instruction to be used at schools. Surprisingly African parents encouraged their children to study through the medium of English mainly due to the education and employment opportunities English will provide them in the future (Mda, 1997). Now, seventeen years into democracy, English as a national language and the preferred medium of instruction has been blamed for poor results among ESL learners (Moreosole, 1998). Taylor, Muller and Vinjevold (2003: 54) point out that the difficulties associated with studying in a language other than one’s home language are more pronounced in mathematics, a subject which is strongly dependent on technical language proficiency. A section in the Grade 8 mathematics syllabus that is generally problematic for ESL learners is that of word problems (Wetzel, 2008). This is because ESL learners lack the language and reading skills needed to comprehend word problems, and the listening skills required to understand the educator’s explanation of the solution (Crandall, Dale, Rhodes and Spanos, 1985). To address the aims and objectives of this study, relevant literature was reviewed and various teaching strategies were examined to determine which strategies may be most effective in helping ESL learners solve word problems. Grounded within the Constructivist Learning Theory, this study was based on Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and Bruner’s concept of scaffolding. Using a mixed methods approach, this study investigated problems that mathematics educators and ESL learners experience in the teaching and learning of word problems through the medium of English, and also identified strategies that mathematics educators use to teach word problems to ESL learners. iv Analysis of the educator questionnaire and the focus group interviews with learners revealed that ESL learners are experiencing difficulty solving word problems in English and educators are, to a large extent, adapting their teaching strategies when teaching them. The data also indicated that groupwork was considered by the majority of educators to be the most suitable method in the teaching of word problems to ESL learners, but sadly this method was used less frequently compared to whole class discussion and individual work due to discipline problems, the educators’ inability to handle group dynamics and the tendency for learners not to contribute to the group discussion. The findings also suggest that it is necessary for the educator to use a variety of teaching strategies to ensure that ESL learners enjoy success in mathematics. Based on the findings, this study makes recommendations regarding the teaching and learning of word problems and the use of adapted teaching strategies to foster active participation in lessons and group discussions, thereby increasing learner confidence and aiding in the understanding of English terminology used in mathematics word problems.

scholarly journals The Use of Indigenous Games to Enhance the Learning of Word Problems in Grade 4 Mathematics: A Case of Kgati

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 240-259
Author(s):  
Tshele J. Moloi ◽  
Moeketsi S. Mosia ◽  
Mogalatjane E. Matabane ◽  
Khanyane T. Sibaya
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Word Problems ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Cultural Wealth ◽  
Mathematics Word Problems ◽  
Collaborative Activities ◽  
Head Of Department

This paper explores the value of indigenous games in the teaching and learning of word problems in Grade 4 mathematics. In particular, the paper explains how the moves of *kgati (skipping rope) can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics word problems. Participatory action research (PAR) methodology was used to generate data so as to enable participants to work collaboratively, freely and with confidence. Participants of this study were Grade 4 learners, a head of department, two Grade 4 mathematics teachers, a life skills teacher, a mathematics subject advisor, four parents and three members of the local royal family. The study seeks to answer the question: To what extent can learners use knowledge of the kgati (skipping rope) game to enhance the learning of mathematics word problems? Community cultural wealth (CCW) theory was employed as a lens that acknowledges the huge wealth of knowledge that participants bring from their homes into the classroom. These forms of capitals include aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial and resistant capital which relate to the knowledge learners bring from home and use to tap into word problems. Critical discourse analysis was used to analyse the words of the research team to reach their deeper meanings. The results of the study indicate that learners can interpret, convert and link their indigenous knowledge with mathematics and improve their understanding of mathematics concepts when indigenous knowledge is incorporated. Incorporating kgati moves to learn word problems significantly improved learners’ creativity and imagination. The study further suggests that learners work better when given opportunities for interactive and collaborative activities that relate to their daily practices.

scholarly journals Revisiting Teachers’ Utilization of Pedagogical Approaches: A Basis to Training Workshop

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-77
Author(s):  
Rhoda E. Panganiban
Keyword(s):  
High School Teachers ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Training Workshop ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Effective Teaching Strategies ◽  
New Material ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

The research study aimed to evaluate the pedagogical approaches used by the senior high school teachers in SHS within Caloocan ES. After the evaluation, the researcher developed a training workshop to enhance the use of these approaches in achieving competitive and equipped millennial learners. Pedagogical approaches and teaching strategies are the main ingredients of becoming an effective teacher. Being an effective teacher means allowing an environment that enable students to learn in the classroom to their best abilities. When different pedagogical approaches practiced in a class discussion a student develop a love for learning and gain new knowledge about what they are studying. It is true that effective teaching strategies also allow students to better understand new material and difficult content (Hill, 2008). Academics and TVLE teachers of SHS within Caloocan ES were the respondents of this study where different approaches evaluated using the Likert Scale. Constructivism, Collaborative, Integrative and Inquiry-Based Approaches utilized by the teachers were evaluated for the researcher to develop a training workshop to enhance the teaching and learning process. It was found out that developing a training workshop enhance the utilization on the use of pedagogical approaches inside the classroom or during the facilitation of classes.

scholarly journals THE LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES OF MATHEMATICS WORD PROBLEMS: A RESEARCH AND LITERATURE REVIEW

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Namirah Fatmanissa ◽  
Kusnandi Kusnandi
Keyword(s):  
Word Problems ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Semiotic System ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Mathematics Word Problems ◽  
Complex Syntax ◽  
Mathematics Problems ◽  
Linguistic Challenges

Purpose – Word problems are still considered challenging for students when compared to other type of mathematics problems. Many emerging findings regarding this issue highlight that the challenges are predominately caused by linguistic aspects. This article aims to present a review and synthesis of literatures regarding the linguistic challenges of mathematics word problems and recommend solutions to address these challenges. Methodology – Systematic search was done and 35 articles from inside and outside Indonesia were selected. The linguistic challenges and recommended solutions found were analyzed using the main features constructing mathematics language: multiple semiotic system, particular features of vocabulary and grammar, and complex syntax. Findings – The review shows various difficulties shown by students in each feature of mathematics language. The review also recommends the practice of mathematics teaching and learning in which language aspects are discussed and exercised both among students and between the students and the teacher in order to help students face their linguistics challenges. It is also imperative for teachers to understand the structure and linguistic features involved in constructing word problems. Significance – This review breaks down the difficulties of mathematics word problems from the perspective of linguistic features constructing them. The findings of this review offer teachers  different point of view to deal with teaching word problems, which is by understanding word problem as an entity of language rather than only as an entity of mathematics. This review also provides some solutions to help teachers address the difficulty for each linguistic feature.

scholarly journals Language of Instruction for Teaching Mathematics at Primary Level: Controversy in Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saira Maqbool ◽  
Mamoona Ghani ◽  
Saima Maqbool
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Teaching Experiment ◽  
National Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
School Students ◽  
Primary Level ◽  
The Difference

One of the factors credited to the poor performance of students inPakistan is the medium of instruction used at primary level. More than70 languages are alive languages/spoken languages of Pakistan and itsgovernment is confused which language to select as MOI (medium ofinstruction) at primary level, i.e. Urdu which is the national language ofPakistan. This paper explores the MOI controversy in Pakistan it alsosought to explore the possibilities and effectiveness of using Englishversus Urdu as a medium of instruction for the teaching of Mathematicsin primary schools in Pakistan. A teaching experiment was conducted tocompare the use of English as a medium of instruction with Urdu asmedium of instruction in the teaching and learning of Mathematics tograde 3 class. t-test was applied to find of the difference of the progressbetween two groups, one group taught in Urdu as MOI and second inEnglish as MOI. Major findings of the research indicated that the use ofUrdu as a medium of instruction in the teaching of Mathematics toprimary school students had a more positive impact upon the teaching ofMathematics. This discussion contains language controversy from thepre-partition time (1835-1947) till date in different political regimes tounderstand the causes of disagreement upon the selection of a singleMOI in education. Applicable recommendations were made in the lightof the findings.

Productive Vocabulary Knowledge of ESL Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulmalik Usman ◽  
Dahiru Musa Abdullahi
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Lexical Frequency ◽  
Frequency Profile ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
The Relationship

The paper seeks to investigate the level of productive knowledge of ESL learners, the writing quality and the relationship between the vocabulary knowledge and the writing quality. 150 final year students of English language in a university in Nigeria were randomly selected as respondents. The respondents were asked to write an essay of 300 words within one hour. The essays were typed into Vocab Profiler of Cobb (2002) and analyzed the Lexical Frequency Profile of the respondents. The essays were also assessed by independent examiners using a standard rubric. The findings reveal that the level of productive vocabulary knowledge of the respondents is limited. The writing quality of the majority of the respondent is fair and there is a significant correlation between vocabulary and the witting quality of the subjects. The researchers posit that productive vocabulary is the predictor of writing quality and recommend various techniques through which teaching and learning of vocabulary can be improved.

scholarly journals Strategic competence for multistep fraction word problems: an overlooked aspect of mathematical knowledge for teaching

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasemin Copur-Gencturk ◽  
Tenzin Doleck
Keyword(s):  
Word Problem ◽  
Word Problems ◽  
Mathematical Knowledge ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Mathematical Knowledge For Teaching ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Strategic Competence ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Valid Solution

AbstractPrior work on teachers’ mathematical knowledge has contributed to our understanding of the important role of teachers’ knowledge in teaching and learning. However, one aspect of teachers’ mathematical knowledge has received little attention: strategic competence for word problems. Adapting from one of the most comprehensive characterizations of mathematics learning (NRC, 2001), we argue that teachers’ mathematical knowledge also includes strategic competence, which consists of devising a valid solution strategy, mathematizing the problem (i.e., choosing particular strategies and presentations to translate the word problem into mathematical expressions), and arriving at a correct answer (executing a solution) for a word problem. By examining the responses of 350 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in the USA to four multistep fraction word problems, we were able to explore manifestations of teachers’ strategic competence for word problems. Findings indicate that teachers’ strategic competence was closely related to whether they devised a valid strategy. Further, how teachers dealt with known and unknown quantities in their mathematization of word problems was an important indicator of their strategic competence. Teachers with strong strategic competence used algebraic notations or pictorial representations and dealt with unknown quantities more frequently in their solution methods than did teachers with weak strategic competence. The results of this study provide evidence for the critical nature of strategic competence as another dimension needed to understand and describe teachers’ mathematical knowledge.

scholarly journals A Study of Errors and Misconceptions in the Learning of Addition and Subtraction of Directed Numbers in Grade 8

SAGE Open ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401667137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judah Paul Makonye ◽  
Josiah Fakude
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Negative Numbers ◽  
Teaching And Learning Mathematics ◽  
Learning Mathematics ◽  
Number Lines ◽  
Addition And Subtraction ◽  
Logical Errors ◽  
Grade 8

The study focused on the errors and misconceptions that learners manifest in the addition and subtraction of directed numbers. Skemp’s notions of relational and instrumental understanding of mathematics and Sfard’s participation and acquisition metaphors of learning mathematics informed the study. Data were collected from 35 Grade 8 learners’ exercise book responses to directed numbers tasks as well as through interviews. Content analysis was based on Kilpatrick et al.’s strands of mathematical proficiency. The findings were as follows: 83.3% of learners have misconceptions, 16.7% have procedural errors, 67% have strategic errors, and 28.6% have logical errors on addition and subtraction of directed numbers. The sources of the errors seemed to be lack of reference to mediating artifacts such as number lines or other real contextual situations when learning to deal with directed numbers. Learners seemed obsessed with positive numbers and addition operation frames—the first number ideas they encountered in school. They could not easily accommodate negative numbers or the subtraction operation involving negative integers. Another stumbling block seemed to be poor proficiency in English, which is the language of teaching and learning mathematics. The study recommends that building conceptual understanding on directed numbers and operations on them must be encouraged through use of multirepresentations and other contexts meaningful to learners. For that reason, we urge delayed use of calculators.

English Medium of Instruction in Multilingual Science Classes: Teaching Science or Language?

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-59
Author(s):  
Dor Prasad Bhandari
Keyword(s):  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Science ◽  
Kathmandu Valley ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
English Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Science Classes ◽  
Depth Interviews

English medium of instruction in multilingual science classes: teaching science or language? is an attempt to identify the effects, methods, and approaches of teaching science in English medium of instruction in Multilingual (ML) science classes. The article is prepared on the basis of in-depth interviews taken with science teachers who are teaching science in multilingual classes. Three science teachers are selected purposively from different three (English Medium Instructions) EMI schools of Kathmandu valley. After taking the interview it was transcribed, coded, and generated the theme. Based on the themes generated it was found that the EMI is important for teaching and learning but it is not everything. Similarly, it was found that the teaching of science is not similar to teaching the grammar structures, and always not possible to use English as a medium of making the concept clear of theoretical ideas of science.

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