Influence Of Specialized Mathematical Language On Secondary School Students Mathematical Achievement In Kenya

Abstract

Secondary school students in Kenya have continued to perform poorly in mathematics at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) national examinations. This continues to raise concern for all stakeholders in education due to the importance they attach to mathematics, a subject that is compulsory for all students to study up to KCSE in Kenya. Among the many factors that are attributed to the students\' dismal performance in the subject is the specialized mathematical language that students encounter as they learn mathematics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mathematical language and learners\' achievement in secondary school mathematics in Kenya and the extent to which mathematical language is perceived by learners and teachers to influence students\' learning of the subject. A sample of 661 from three secondary schools (352 boys and 309 girls) and 71 mathematical teachers (39 men and 32 women) were randomly sampled from Busia, Kwericho, Nakuru, Kiambo districts, including Kisumu and Nairobi cities. Questionnaire were administered to the selected respondents in the study area. Descriptive statistics and correlations were used to analyse data collected. The study found that majority of the mathematics teachers attributed learners mistakes in mathematics to their lack of the understanding of the specialized ,mathematical language. It was established that learners mastery of specialized mathematical language has direct influence on their achievement .

Keywords: specialized Mathematical language, Kenya

Journal of Technology and Education in Nigeria Vol. 10 (1) 2005: pp. 1-10