Mathematics: A Language of its Own

Studies conducted at Egerton University indicate that incompetent teaching strategies, particularly the "lack of mastery of mathematical language" are the main reason that students in Kenya are struggling in math classes. (Kenyan students ranked in the 18-19 percentile on standardized math tests between 2001 and 2006). The "mathematical language" described in the article is one in which students must understand the context of the problem, symbols involved, and the meaning of words simply to move on to a second step of solving the problem with logic.

Dr. Bernard Githua and Dr. Z. K. Mbugua claim that Kenyan students are often confused by mathematical language because many math terms are the same as terms used in everyday life, yet represent different ideas and concepts. Students are used to hearing words like "base", "parallel", and "similar" frequently, but in math these terms have different meanings. By learning the normal usage of these words first, students have trouble creating new meanings for them when they are working in the mathematical sphere. Although these words already exist in the students' vocabulary, they must add definitions to these words to incorporate their new meanings.

On the other hand, there are words in math that are never heard or utilized in everyday life. The study claims that words such as "denominator", "isosceles", and "coefficient" that are rarely heard outside of class make math extremely difficult to learn. Students must add an entire new vocabulary into their language for these mathematical terms.

In addition to these new words, new symbols also must be learned in order to perform mathematical computations. New symbols are like a completely different language that students must comprehend. Githua and Mbugua also claim that symbols are contradictory because although they are supposed to be precise, they can mean several things. Symbols can be used for "communication, recording, formation of new concepts, multiple classification, explanation, aiding reflective mental activity, exhibition of mathematical structure, automation of routine mathematical manipulations, recovery of information and creative mental activity." The multiple usages of symbols, and the fact that students are expected to understand the many usages in depth make them difficult to comprehend.

Lastly, the article argues that mathematical terms with negative connotations such as "improper fraction", "irrational number", and "negative" may not be appealing to students. (I personally have to disagree with the last point made as it seems a bit irrelevant. Although I think connotations can influence your feelings toward a word or concept I do not think they are responsible for the issues students have with math).

Students learning math in a second language are especially prone to struggling. Because they are less likely to understand the words of the second language as well as in their first language, and as a result of language interference, even if they understand the mathematical concepts well, they may not be able to solve a problem because of the language use in the problem. This reminds me of our discussions about whether students whose native language is not English should be mainstreamed into all English classes, or slowly integrate over time. It does not seem fair that someone who may be extremely talented at math struggles in the subject because of his or her inability to understand the language in which the problem is written.


Problems with math can potentially harm students by hindering future success. Approximately 90% of careers require a basic understanding of mathematics. The study suggests that for the students in Kenya to perform better in math, teachers must be trained to explain mathematical language to students and use "repeated definitions, marginal comments, reminders, clues, glossaries and indexes in textbooks."

I found this article very interesting because although we have considered the difficulties in learning a second language that is different from our native language, we have not really discussed the potential "languages", such as math, that exist within a language. I also find it interesting that the problems students are having with math do not exist in one culture or one language but across all cultures and languages. The article focused on Kenya, but emphasized that the problems with math are worldwide, and that all nations need to have better explanation of the "mathematical language" in order for students to perform at a higher level.

It seems that the language of mathematics is one that is fairly foreign and difficult to learn for speakers of all languages. I am reminded of the movie Mean Girls (I know...but hear me out) where Lindsay Lohan, a new student to the United States who has lived in Africa for most of her life, claims that her favorite subject in school is math because it is "the same in every language." Even the article I read stated that math has "an internationally recognized vocabulary." Ironically, it seems that although somewhat universal, math itself constitutes a separate language, or at least a very specialized subset of language that can be difficult to learn. Math begins as foreign in some way to everyone, because it contains vocabulary and symbols that are not common in everyday speech and must be learned.

I am interested to hear what you think. Can math be considered a language of its own? Do speakers of a certain language have an advantage because the "language of math" is more easily incorporated into their language? Are there other skills that we learn (such as music, for example) that can be considered "languages" in a sense? Does language describe any type of logical communication or can the word language only define languages that we use for direct communication (spoken language, sign language, etc.)?


LINKS:
1. Yusuf, Khadija (2007). "The Standard." Retrieved from http://www.eastandard.net/mag/mag.php?mnu=details&id=1143976743&catid=316 on November 5, 2007.