Math word problems in an ESL classroom
As a math teacher in Asia, I faced the same problem day after day. My students cannot solve math problems. They just don’t understand them. And I’m not talking about those 2, 3 students who would even correct their teacher, no, I’m talking about most of my students.
Word problems are the heart of my topic; they give meaning to numbers and are related to our practices of daily life. 2 times 2 means nothing, but 2 $2 apples does! Mathematics and conceptualization go hand in hand.
Most of the teachers at my school seem to be jealous of me because teaching math is supposed to be so easy to teach in our ESL environment. Math is easy because it deals with numbers, and those are universal. True, but this answer ignores the representation or perception of numbers. Math is about problem solving and requires academic reading skills.
Our school is a humble school in Thailand and, like many schools in this beautiful country, the importance of English as a global language is recognized. EP schools, or English programs, are proliferating in every province. For considerable tuition fees, Thai youth learn all subjects, except Thai, of course, in English. This sounds great in terms of development and global thinking, but it comes with risks.
Thai students are not proficient in English. In fact, they have poor English skills. International evaluation studies show weak English skills, which is not really a surprise. The Thai language is not like English and outside of school, and at home only Thai is spoken.
So how can students in Thailand learn school subjects like social studies, science, and math in English without missing the point? This is the one million question. How can teachers, school administrators, and parents expect these children to learn concepts when the delivery of the information is not understood?
Word problems are perceived as difficult by students. It requires students to read and analyze problems to arrive at the necessary methodology. A fantastic example of such a problem is a question in my fourth grade math book:
“Admission to a trade show is $12.40. On Monday, 250 people visited the trade show, and on Tuesday, 200 more people than on Monday visited the trade show. How much money was collected in admissions on both days?”
Understandably, most students will struggle with this problem. Mathematically, 3 steps are involved: addition, again addition, and multiplication. It is not easy for a fourth grader, but the biggest challenge is not the math operations, but the language used. How can any young student relate to trade shows? And how many native English students can spell the word exhibition correctly? Now imagine the Thai students and the difficulty of the teachers in explaining this problem. A lot of time will be wasted explaining words like trade, display, and visitors.
So how can we teach these problems to ESL students from Thailand or anywhere else? First, drop your book! Any book with problems like the one above is not suitable for young learners and not at all for ESL students. Second: rewrite your material. Use easier language, talk to English teachers and use the vocabulary taught in your lessons.
The same problem above can be rewritten as follows:
“The price of 1 ice cream is $2.40. A store sold 250 ice creams on Monday. On Tuesday, the store sold 200 more ice creams than on Monday. How much money did the store make on both days?”
With these words, the problem has become a math problem again, and most students will understand their meaning. Whether they can solve it or not, it now becomes a math problem and not one of (non-existent) academic reading skills.
Teaching non-native English learners word problems is challenging, but not impossible. There are many websites with excellent sources. Don’t give up on your students. When math is just about numbers, it will never have any meaning!