Language difficulties in mathematics courses for students from non-English speaking backgrounds in the transition from secondary to tertiary education
Creators: name: Varughese, Nancy
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024

description: This research investigates the role of language in tertiary mathematics and the difficulties faced by second-language learners in grappling with the specialised vocabulary and discourse features of mathematics. The study began in response to observations while teaching Foundation Studies courses at RMIT University, which revealed some of the challenges faced by learners of mathematics due to lack of proficiency in English. A survey of literature revealed that very few studies have investigated language difficulties faced by learners of mathematics, from Non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB), at the tertiary level, despite growing number of NESB learners in universities of the developed nations. Placed in this setting, the goal of the research became an exploration into language-related difficulties faced by NESB learners of mathematics at the tertiary level and led to the framing of open ended research questions.<br><br>A mixed method, interpretive, case study methodology was used to probe two of the components of language use that are of importance in learning tertiary mathematics namely, reading and writing. The research was conducted in three parts that looked at reading and writing from different angles and enabled the use of multiple methods for corroborating results by triangulation. Although conducted as a case study of one group of students at one institution, the participation of students from three academic years and the nature of the data collected provided an opportunity to involve a larger number of students than is feasible in a conventional case study. Furthermore, the method resulted in quantifying most of the data which enabled the use of simple descriptive statistics measures to identify emerging patterns that assisted in drawing conclusions and answering the research questions. The use of effect size calculations displayed the magnitude of difference between unequal groups, allowing for comparison of naturally occurring groups in the sample.<br><br>Three instruments were developed for the three parts of the study. A Mathematics Language Comprehension Test was developed to assess comprehension of mathematical language, a Mensuration Task was designed to study student writing in mathematics, and a Linguistic Complexity Rubric was modified to analyse the reading and comprehension demands of senior secondary and tertiary mathematics textbooks. <br><br>As a result of the collated findings from three parts, this study has identified several language difficulties experienced by tertiary NESB students of mathematics, and the effect of language background on the nature and level of difficulty experienced. These findings have widespread applications to comparable teaching and learning situations. Several implications call for action, and recommendations for practitioners and future researchers are provided in the light of the various findings. Two unique outcomes emerged from the deliberations of this study. One is a Revised Error Analysis Model to explain the possible errors made by tertiary NESB students in mathematics, and the other is a Text Analysis Framework which provides suggested guidelines for selection of textbooks that are suitable for given student cohorts.