Learning Mathematics in English at Basic Schools in Ghana: A Benefit or Hindrance?

Abstract

Facilitating effective mathematics learning and higher mathematics achievement have long been recognized as a key to the scientific and technological advancement of the African continent. While the central role that language proficiency plays in mathematics teaching and learning has received an overwhelming research attention in the literature over the past two decades, this is not the case among African policy-makers and political leaders. Drawing mainly from our professional experiences as mathematics educators and from the international research literature, our primary intent in this paper is to answer this question: How does the learning of mathematics in English at the basic school level help or hinder students' mathematical proficiency? To answer this question, the paper is organized as follows. The first part, the introduction, gives a brief overview of the language of learning and teaching in Africa. The second part describes the method and conceptual framework undergirding the research. In the third section, we have analyzed the effects of mathematics learning and teaching through English for basic students whose mother tongue is a Ghanaian language. The conclusion offers four recommendations for developing and improving the mathematics proficiency of students in basic schools.

Teaching mathematics in ‘different tongues’

“…Moreover, MP is broken down into 5 strands: Conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and productive dispositi on (Cordova & Tan, 2018). Fredua-Kwarteng & Ahia (2015), explained the each strand as follows: conceptual understanding 'is about comprehension of mathematics concepts, operations, and their relationships'; procedural fluency 'refers to the knowledge and skills to apply mathematical procedures flexibly and appropriately in accordance with the contexts'; strategic competence 'is the ability to formulate, represent and solve mathematical problems'; Adaptive reasoning 'relates to the capacity to explain things using logic, thought reflection, and justification'; and productive disposition 'involves the development of positive attitude toward mathematics ' (Pein et al, 2015;Buxton et al, 2013).…”

Gender Dynamics in High School Mathematics Education: Impact of Teachers and School Environment on Female Students Attitudes and Achievement

“…Researchers have consistently shown that attitudes toward mathematics play a crucial role in students' engagement and achievement in the subject [5,10,14,16]. Mathematics anxiety, in particular, has been identified as a significant barrier to learning, with girls often experiencing higher levels of anxiety compared to boys [6,13].…”

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“…It has been shown that in Africa, major stakeholders-the government, parents, and educated elites-tend to exhibit significantly negative attitudes towards speaking the indigenous languages within school compounds [15,21,22]. Oftentimes, speaking the indigenous languages is considered a disgraceful act, and students are sometimes punished accordingly.…”