A text analysis of mathematical word problems: A basis for a proposal for language and mathematics integration pedagogy

As research established that linguistic features influence understanding mathematical word problems (MWPs), these features are seen as a factor of students’ difficulty in solving mathematical word problems. Often, students are unable to translate the words into numbers or formula to work on the needed mathematical operations and conditions. This present study’s aim is two-fold, the text analysis of mathematical word problems and its target linguistic features is hoped to contribute to the understanding of mathematical language by making its lexical and syntactical features explicit; secondly, the mapping and integration of the linguistic descriptions in terms of vocabulary and sentence features of the mathematical word problems in a pedagogical framework and lesson exemplar hope to assess their pedagogical effects. Results show that the types of vocabulary in MWPs namely specialized words, specific words and general word exhibit similarities but also significant variation of forms and function with everyday use of words as natural language. Lexical shifts affect the meaning of the verbal formulation. In terms of word order of the algebraic expressions and sentence patterns in MWPs, verbal translation problems were in S-LV-C, while situational problems and formula problems were both in S-TV-O and using monotransitivity and ditransitivity patterns. Nominal phrases (NPs) which are the most common feature of verbal formulation in MWPs follow the following word order, algebraic noun phrase (ANP), algebraic conditional-operational noun phrase (ACONP), and algebraic relative noun phrase (ARNP). Verbal formulation is also reflected in algebraic sentence of equalities (ASE). NPs are composed of nominative accusative type non-terminating form projected from the noun to its modifier. These nominals are operationalized by observing the algebraic conditions or mathematical relationship of the projection. Meaning-making process of the verbal formulation is attributed to linguistic markers. The most common sentence features are comparative and imperative