English Math Research Articles

Teachers' Perspectives of the Sudden Shift Towards Online Learning: Challenges and Future Lessons

Traditionally, teaching math using English as a foreign language creates many challenges because learners may not have yet acquired the skills they need to understand the lesson. The study aimed to identify the challenges faced by teachers of math in English when course instruction shifted to online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the study presents three essential lessons from this experience from the teachers' perspectives. During the COVID-19 outbreak, all schools abruptly switched to Online Education. Most participants in the study had never done online teaching before the pandemic and were unfamiliar with using technology. The researchers used a mixed methods approach, incorporating the following two ways of gathering data: a questionnaire and face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: (1) English language challenges and (2) access to technology. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 50 female teachers, followed by structured interviews. The interview consisted of one question about the most important lessons learned, and the data were analysed using SPSS Statistics. The findings indicated that the English language and a lack of technology constituted obstacles for teachers. According to the participants, they identified three future lessons. The researchers provide recommendations to teachers, students, and governments.

The Attitude of Kindergarten Teachers towards Teaching Science and Math in English (Field Research)

Abstract This study aimed to explore the attitudes of kindergarten teachers towards teaching science and mathematics in English in Koya city for the academic year 2015-2016. It attempts to identify the attitudes of kindergarten teachers towards teaching science and mathematics in English according to some variables (age, monthly income, certification). The sample size consisted of 33 kindergarten teachers. The Instrument was developed by the researchers, later validated by specialists and experts. The reliability coefficients of the self-developed questionnaire were obtained from a Cronbach Alfa which was at level 0.83. The results revealed that the mathematics and science teachers in the kindergartens of Koya city have an attitude between neutral and negative (to a certain extent) towards the teaching of these subjects in English. It was also found that the youth teachers have more positive attitudes toward math and science teaching in English, Additionally, the degree of academic certificate category (bachelor) has a more positive attitude than the academic certificate categories (Intermediate) and (diploma).

The Attitude of Kindergarten Teachers towards Teaching Science and Math in English (Field Research)

The Attitude of Kindergarten Teachers towards Teaching Science and Math in English (Field Research)

Investigating Curricular Injustices to Uncover the Injustices of Curricula: Curriculum Evaluation as Critical Disciplinary Literacy Practice

Conversations around disciplinary literacy have often focused on the skills particular to each discipline without analyzing closely the discipline-specific properties of curricula. These silences suggest the need to nuance the ways in which curricula acts as a discipline-bound social construct, meaning that English math, history, and science curricula are fashioned, presented, and preserved differently. This article presents findings from a case study conducted with secondary English students in a World Literature course as they worked to analyze both the large-scale injustices their curriculum favored as well as the ways in which curricula itself acts as an injustice-perpetuating mechanism. Findings reveal that the injustice mini-unit positioned students to view curricula as a political entity; connect sociocultural and curricular privileging; and begin to agentively re-purpose, and re-see, curricula. Implications include the importance of delineating the phenomenon of critical disciplinary literacy, and the ways in which problematizing curricula serves as a powerful and important critical disciplinary literacy practice.

Math instruction is not universal: Language-specific pedagogical knowledge in Korean/English Two-Way Immersion programs

ABSTRACTTwo-Way Immersion (TWI) programs have demonstrated positive outcomes in students’ academic achievement in English, yet less is known about content teaching and learning in the non-English language in these programs. This study uses math instruction as a lens to identify pedagogical strategies and challenges in the teaching of math in Korean to bilingual students. Analysis of classroom interaction data shows that math instruction in Korean followed the curricular sequence and pedagogy designed for teaching math in English, leading to missed opportunities for more effective content pedagogy that utilizes language-specific characteristics inherent to the grammatical structure of Korean. This study highlights the need for not only language-specific content curricula but also language-specific pedagogical knowledge and training for TWI teachers, in particular in the non-English language of instruction.

The Students’ Speaking Skill Analaysis on Local Wisdom- Based Topics (A Study at the First Year Grade of Mathematics Department of Unswagati)

The goals of this research are (1) to know what students’ responses toward WH question tehnique; (2) to know whether the WH Question can improve students’ math in English. This research used the descriptive qualitative method. The writer described and analyzed the students’ mistakes in speaking skill using local materials. The research was carried out at the first year students of math department in 2016/2017 academic year. It was strated from September 2016 to January 2017. The population was the first semester students of math department in academic year of 2016/2017. The number of population were 21 students. The results of this research were (1) the tudents gave good responses toward the WH Questions learning, and (2) the WH questions improved the Math students’ ability in learning English. Keywords: Speaking, Local-wisdom, WH-questions

Global, National, and Local Goals: English Language Policy Implementation in an Indonesian International Standard School

The purpose of this study was to examine the achievement of students in math and science subjects as the impact of using English as a medium of instruction at an international standard school. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument to 190 students at one international standard school in Jambi Province, Indonesia. A focus group discussion (FGD) approach was undertaken to validate and verify the data gathered through the questionnaire and clarify some issues raised in the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. It was found that the students’ demographic profile, attitude toward English and grades in math and science subjects were significantly related with their academic achievement. However, students’ perception on methods and techniques was not significantly related with their academic achievement in English, math, and the science subjects. The result showed that the implementation of English as a medium of instruction was not done well in the international standard school. This is perhaps due to the difficulty of learning science and math in English. This study provided information for policy makers, school leaders, researchers, and teacher educators to understand how the policy is implemented at the school level. The challenges of attempting too ambitious linguistic and academic goals in the school were discussed as were policy implications and future research.

LEXICAL SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS

The teaching of Science and Math in English in Malaysia is an area of great concern to educators and students alike. This study looks, in particular, at the common word classes among keywords identified in the Science, Math and English language Form One textbooks used in Malaysia and the differences in language use identified in the Science and Math textbooks.

An Inquiry into Language-switching in Second Language Composing Processes

This paper aims to investigate the factors that influence the language-switching behaviour in the thinking processes of a bilingual person engaged in second language composing tasks, based on a review of related research studies and a report of an empirical case study. The study uses a multitask within-subject design. A participant is asked to do three sets of second language composing tasks which include text composition in English as a second language, written translation from Chinese (first language) into English, and problem-solving in math in English. Each set consists of two tasks: one with a low level of knowledge demands, and the other with a high level of knowledge demands. An analysis of the think-aloud protocols reveals several factors which may affect language-switching; the findings of the study suggest that levels of knowledge demands may play an important role in influencing language-switching in second language composing processes.