Studentsʹʹ English Language Abilities in Solving Mathematics Word Problems

Previous local research findings have found that students are generally weak in solving mathematics word problems especially in problems that required skills in choosing the various mathematical techniques they have learned in previous years. Too often, students see the knowledge taught by teachers as mathematical procedures and they failed to apply the importance of such knowledge to their daily lives. This research investigated two main areas, namely studentsʹ performance in solving mathematics word problems and the relationship between English competency and the ability to do mathematics. A total of 78 Year 9 students from four secondary schools participated in this study. The findings revealed that the time or period spent in school does not determine studentsʹ ability in mathematics but rather a strong foundation in basic mathematics is a factor that contributes to a better performance in the subject. Furthermore, the English competency does not influence studentsʹ performance in doing mathematics word problems significantly. It was proven that students does not require good English to do Mathematics word problems questions with less than 40 words (those categorised as ʹNot Wordyʹ and ʹAverage Wordyʹ questions).