Supporting Students in the Language and Vocabulary of Math

Introduction

Math is more than just numbers and operations. Math is rich with concepts and terminology. The language of instruction in math classrooms and wording in textbooks and on tests, includes complex vocabulary, terms, phrases, and symbols. To do well in math, logically students need to have a solid understanding of math vocabulary and concepts as well as strong listening and reading comprehension skills. According to Harmon, Hedrick, & Wood (2005), some students do poorly on math tests because they have trouble reading and understanding the language of the problems presented to them. "Mathematics presents challenging reading because this content area has more concepts per word, per sentence, and per paragraph than any other area" (Harmon, Hedrick, & Wood, p. 266).

In addition to understanding the complex language of math, students are also often expected to articulate orally and in written form their approaches to math problem solving. Students are not only responsible for solving math problems, they are also required to explain how they solved them. While it may appear easy to separate math from language arts and reading, the subjects and skills needed for each are increasingly intermingled. Because math is language-based, students with communication disorders may need support in the language and vocabulary of math. With federal mandates requiring specialists to teach to academic standards, addressing the language of math is within the scope of practice of speech-language pathologists.

Literature Review

Although research into the area of math vocabulary is limited, researchers report that vocabulary and concept knowledge are an important part of mathematics. For example, Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) found that vocabulary knowledge greatly improves comprehension. If children do not know the meanings of words used in math instruction, and do not understand math specific words in textbooks and math problems, they likely will struggle to learn and to perform well when tested. Pierce and Fontaine (2009) also report that language skills are becoming more and more important in math instruction and learning.

According to the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE, 2007), math contains three distinct language elements: symbolic language, content vocabulary, and academic language. In the past, math instruction has primarily emphasized the symbolic language. Symbolic language refers to numbers, tables, graphs, formulas, etc. Content vocabulary refers to math's technical language (e.g., fraction, equation, degree, exponent, etc.). Academic language refers to the language often used in the instruction of math and academics in generalterms such as summarize, simplify, evaluate, convert, etc. When students do not understand the meaning of content vocabulary words and/or academic knowledge terms, they will not accurately comprehend verbal instructions, written language in textbooks and workbooks, or terms in word problems, and they will struggle to explain their approaches to problem solving.

Fletcher and Santoli (2003) found that math vocabulary is often not taught directly in math classrooms and stressed the need to teach it. They administered vocabulary checklists to high school students to assess their knowledge and understanding of mathematical vocabulary terms. The results demonstrated that many high school students had difficulty defining even the simplest of math vocabulary terms.

Blessman and Myszczak (2001) found a correlation between the reading comprehension scores of fifth-grade students and their understanding of math concepts. In their research, students did not possess adequate vocabulary to explain their approaches to problem solving in mathematics. Further, they found that students showed significant improvement in math when learning strategies, such as math journals, student-created math dictionaries, and literature to reinforce concepts were incorporated into the math instruction.

Larson (2007) studied the affect of incorporating math-related vocabulary teaching into math instruction. He worked with a group of 6th grade students. As part of their math instruction, the students kept vocabulary folders in which they held lists of relevant math vocabulary words, vocabulary word search puzzles, pictures created out of vocabulary words, and vocabulary word definitions. Additionally, the students took weekly math vocabulary quizzes and these were kept in the vocabulary folder for periodic review. Larson demonstrated that students' understanding of math concepts and their scores on standardized assessments could be improved with such teaching techniques.

The National Reading Panel (2000) suggests that in order for children and adults to fully appreciate and understand word meaning, they must encounter the word in multiple contexts. This does not mean that repetition and drill of definitions is recommended. Rather, reading the words, discussing the meaning, and using the words in a variety of contexts will help to store the definition in memory and to give it true meaning.