Teaching children to solve mathematical word problems in an imported language

Debbie Bautista Verzosa*, Joanne Mulligan

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

    Abstract

    Many Filipino children find mathematical word problems particularly difficult to solve because they are required to learn mathematics and solve problems in English, a language that many encounter only in school. This paper reports on one aspect of a two-year design study aimed to assist second-grade Filipino children solve additive word problems in English. With Filipino as the medium of instruction, an out-of-school pedagogical intervention providing linguistic and representational scaffolds was implemented with 17 children over 10 weeks. Pre-intervention, children experienced linguistic difficulties and were limited to conceptualising and solving simple additive structures. Post-intervention interviews revealed improved understanding of more complex structures, but only when linguistic difficulties were minimised.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationproceedings of the 36th conference of the international group for psychology of mathematics education
    Subtitle of host publicationopportunities to learn in mathematics education
    EditorsTai-Yih Tso
    Place of PublicationTaipei, Taiwan
    PublisherINT GRP PSYCHOL MATH EDUC
    Pages203-210
    Number of pages8
    Volume4
    Publication statusPublished - 2012
    Event36th Annual Conference of the International-Group-for-Psychology-of-Mathematics-Education (PME 36) - Taipei, Taiwan
    Duration: 18 Jul 201222 Jul 2012

    Publication series

    NamePME Conference Proceedings
    PublisherINT GRP PSYCHOL MATH EDUC
    ISSN (Print)0771-100X

    Conference

    Conference36th Annual Conference of the International-Group-for-Psychology-of-Mathematics-Education (PME 36)
    Country/TerritoryTaiwan
    CityTaipei
    Period18/07/1222/07/12

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