Mitchell Tandy

EDUC 340
Language and the Performance of English-Language Learners in Math Word
Problems
No Child Left Behind changed the American education system dramatically, and
the positive and negative effects are a source of great debate. One of these effects
is that the act started holding various school districts feet to the fire regarding the
success of English-language learners success. However, while the standardized
tests are intended to test content area knowledge, they are oftentimes testing
English language abilities, instead. The story problems commonly used by these
standardized tests require significant linguistic ability in order to understand what
the correct answer should be. Language and the Performance of English-Language
Learners in Math Word Problems, by Maria Martiniello, shows in her research
article, via several examples from the study, that specific issues in story problem
structure cause English-language learners perform worse than English-speaking
classmates of equal content mastery.
Martiniello used five examples of problems from the study, with interviews from
students expressing their thinking processes. Example one was a probability
problem with students saying whether it was certain, likely, unlikely, or impossible
for a spinner to land on an even-numbered space. However, interviewed ELLs
misread the problem, because they recognized the word one elsewhere in the
problem and assumed that was the numbered space they were finding probability
for. Other students didnt understand what certain, likely, unlikely, or uncertain
meant. Example two was a problem that asked students to show, in numbers, what
five-tenths meant. Because the explanation was short and easily structured,
ELLs to perform equally to their English-speaking peers, even when they didnt
recognize a couple non-essential words in the explanation. Example three showed
two problems that both tested the same concepts, but one used terms such as
chores and vacuum while the other used terms such as pencil and ruler.
ELL students performed significantly better on the second problem, because words
like chores and vacuum only used outside of school, which ELLs dont have
access to. Example four was another probability problem regarding colored marbles
in a bag. However, because the sentence was structured in a more linguistically
advanced way, English-language learners were unsure which adjective described
which noun. Example five was a problem regarding basic arithmetic using potato
chip bags and a coupon, but English-language learners were unfamiliar with how the
coupon in the problem worked or what the word meant.
Martiniello concluded from the data of the study that two major issues are
behind English-language learners poor performance on story problems. First, story
problems that utilize flowery, artistic sentence syntax can create more confusion
than necessary by making English-language learners comprehension strategies
ineffective and obsolete. Second, vocabulary in story problems that are common to
English speakers may have been learned in environments where English isnt

spoken for ELLs. Labeled pictures would help comprehension dramatically when
using terms that may be specific to a certain culture.
Language and the Performance of English-Language Learners in Math Word
Problems. Harvard Educational Review Vol. 78 No. 2 Summer 2008
http://her.hepg.org/content/70783570r1111t32/fulltext.pdf
Adapting Mathematics Instruction for English-Language Learners: The Language
Concept Connection.
In the United States, there is a growing racial divide regarding mathematics
achievement in public education, and as a result, Latinos are underrepresented in
the fields of science and engineering. A major contributing factor to this issue is the
misconception that mathematics instruction, like the study of math itself, is a
completely universal language, so it does not require adjustment for Englishlanguage learners. Adapting Mathematics Instruction for English-Language
Learners, by Garrison and Mora, expresses the importance of a unique pedagogical
approach to teaching mathematics to English-language learners.
Garrison and Mora argue that the structure of units is vital to Englishlanguage learners success. According to the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM), mathematical concepts should be taught with concrete
examples and experiences first, followed by identifying the general connections
between them, reducing them to semi-concrete visual representation, further
reducing them to abstract symbolic representation, and evaluating and analyzing
them using linguistic expression. The abstract representation and linguistic
expressions come last, because they are the most difficult parts. When Englishlanguage learners have to both try to comprehend the concepts and the language
that is being used to teach it, the lesson becomes unreasonably difficult. How are
students supposed to learn place values when theyre trying to differentiate the
similarly sounding 80 and 18? Therefore, instructors should tackle either a new
concept or new vocabulary, not both at the same time. Instructors should try to
teach new concepts using students first language, then teach new vocabulary and
applications using English.
However, the entire class cannot be in students first language, so being able
to make lessons understandable for students is vital to English-language learners
success. First, Before any unit, teachers should review vocabulary that students will
need, rather than simply assume they already know those words. In addition,
teachers should explain and show the concepts underlying new vocabulary before
trying to teach those new terms. Second, comprehension can be greatly enhanced
by using physical props and other manipulatives to give concrete examples of
classroom concepts. Third, Having a somewhat predictable structure to lessons and
units allows students to utilize consistent context to help them understand whats
going on despite linguistic differences. Finally, small groups can be effective
learning environments for English-language learners, because this type of grouping

is less intimidating than speaking in front of the class and gives students access to
peers that they can work with collaboratively for greater effect.
Adapting Mathematics Instruction for English-Language Learners: The Language
Concept Connection. Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on Latinos
(March 1999): 35-48.
https://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Professional_Development/Focus_of_the_Year/E
quity/05%20CFM%20latinos%20Garrison.pdf