Mathematical vocabulary and its applications

Math Vocabulary Literature Review

The nation's public and private school systems have demonstrated that there are far too many examples where large numbers of students do not positively excel. Unfortunately, math success has become one of the more obvious shortcomings of the educational system. "Mathematics education seems particularly prone to the belief in the single new idea: do this (whether using calculators, teaching mathematics through problem solving, working collaboratively, stressing the basics, employing manipulatives, and so on), and all your math problems will be solved." (Elliot, Portia C., 11) Obviously this is not the case.

This Literature Review focuses on the fact that modern day students consistently demonstrate that they are lacking in overall proficiency, especially in areas like mathematically-based vocabulary. But is it the student's fault? The study article in the 2006 Reading Psychology by Margaret-Mary Sulentic-Dowell, Gloria D. Beal and Robert M. Capraro called "How Do Literacy Experiences Affect the Teaching Propensities of Elementary Pres-Service Teachers?" addresses the question of how pre-service and early grade teachers may in fact be a crucial part of how students process both reading and mathematics skills.

Problem

There is little doubt that students today have been falling further and further behind the rest of the world mathematically. This study aimed to show that it is quite possible that some basic communication skills may actually be the underlying problem. "First and foremost, Portia, if we want to fulfill the social goals of a mathematically literate workforce, lifelong learning, opportunities for all, and an informed electorate, then we all will need to communicate mathematically." (Elliot, Portia C., 1)

There is a lack of proficiency in many students' basic math vocabulary knowledge. It is not difficult to picture a classroom full of children in any typical elementary school somewhere in the United States. The children are working on a math class assignment where they will have to solve several pre-algebraic math word problems. A few of the children have no problem whatsoever solving these problems; however, the majority of the students are either partly or completely lost. They do not understand the instructions, the actual problems, or parts of the problems for one reason or another. Teachers often face these dilemmas and become frustrated.

At what point did the majority of the students miss the foundation of mathematically-based vocabulary? According to the article, elementary pre-service teachers who are lifetime active readers may be more of a positive influence in regard to students obtaining the skills needed to increase vocabulary, especially in more difficult areas such as math. The reason for this is because teachers who prefer a lifetime of reading and continue to pursue a lifestyle of active reading tend to teach differently than teachers that were not regular active or leisure readers. "Active readers use comprehension strategies most often to help students decide on a solution strategy. The most common types of comprehension strategies were to ask students to rephrase the problem or to re-read the problem aloud. It was common to hear an active reader when faced with a student having problems with a word problem to hear them ask the student to re-read a sentence followed by asking the student what it means. This process helped students to understand the problem structure and to be able to decode the English and re-encode it into a mathematics register. When students continued having difficulty with whole sentence meaning the active readers often used a chucking strategy. They would ask students to read a particular part of a sentence and then explain what it means." (Sulentic-Dowell, Margaret-Mary, etc.)

Goal

In order to increase students' skills related to working math vocabulary, it is more important to focus on the pre-service and pre-school teachers that these students are exposed to in their early academic careers. "Mathematics projects are developed from real-world needs of both the middle school students and the preschoolers. Assessment is integral to curriculum. (Trentacosta, 145)