In recent years research in mathematical word problems has focused on an attempt to connect classroom mathematics teaching and learning to learners ' out-of-school 'real

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This study explored whether discussion as a teaching strategy in mathematics classrooms could have positive gains in improving learners’ problem-solving performance, as well as their ability to make sense of real wor(l)d problems. This article discusses the partial findings of a bigger study that used a pre-test intervention or post-test mixed-method design and utilised both quantitative and qualitative data. Analysis of the data generated from both pre-tests and post-tests suggests that the intervention strategy significantly improved the experimental group’s problem-solving skills and sense-making performance. The statistical results illustrate that the experimental group performed significantly better than the comparison group in the post-test. The main finding of this study is that in classrooms of experimental schools in which discussion technique was successfully implemented, there was a statistically significant improvement in the learners’ competence in solving word problems.

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