Learning math is tricky and often feared, and with good reason. Math is it’s own language, not only are there symbols, numbers and geometric images but there are words that don’t mean the same thing as they do in everyday life!
Learning the language of Maths is like learning a foreign language so it’ make sense that kids need to learn math vocabulary if they are to be successful learners. In addition to this, if students are not explicitly taught Mathematical Language they will often disregard math words in problems and only look at the numbers!
And there’s a stack of research too about the importance of teaching Math vocabulary and the impact it has on students achievement Levels.
But don’t just take my word for it. Did you know that there’s a ton of research to support the importance of good math vocabulary and achievement levels?
Studues by Swan & Dunstan; Hirsh & Nation have found that spending time on building math vocabulary will have a huge impact on student achievement. Specifically:
- vocabulary is connected with reading comprehension and is predictor of students’ comprehension
- Students need to know 90-95% of the words in a text before they can comprehend that text
- Vocabulary need to be explicitly taught first
- Students from low socio economic areas need greater support
- Teaching math vocabulary can help raise student achievement levels
- Students with high vocabularies are better at mathematical reasoning
So, the best way to help students learn the Language of Maths is to incorporate Math vocabulary into your mathematics programs and incorporate a set of simple strategies into every maths lessons.