Language Barriers in Statistics Education: Some Findings From Fiji

Sashi Varta Sharma

Abstract


Despite the fact that language plays a crucial role in mathematics education, not much research has been carried out in documenting the problems of learning statistics in a second language. This paper reports on findings from a larger qualitative study that investigated high school students’ understanding of statistical ideas. Data were gathered from individual interviews. The interviews were audio recorded and complemented by written notes. Two major themes that evolved from the analysis of data were the confusion among registers and the interpretation of the tasks. Moreover, students lacked verbal skills to explain their thinking and interpreted the tasks in ways not intended by myself. The findings are compared and contrasted with relevant literature. The paper ends with some suggestions for practice and further inquiry. 


Keywords


English language learners, high school students, implications, language barriers, mathematical language, socio-cultural perspective

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