Difficulties in mathematics among students with Swedish as a second language: Teachers‘ views on difficulties, causes, and measures in mathematics in Swedish lower secondary school, with a focus on students with Swedish as their second language
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Learning and leadership (MPLOL), MSc
Publicerad
2022
Författare
Hanoun Santana, Daniella
Törnqvist, Johanna
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
In the media, news has highlighted that Sweden has performed worse in PISA (Programme
for International Student Assessment) over the years compared to other countries. Statistics of
Sweden’s results of mathematics in PISA and National Tests show that students with a
language other than Swedish as their mother tongue generally perform with a lower result
compared to the students with Swedish as their mother tongue. The study aims to investigate
the understanding of mathematics among students with Swedish as a second language who
study mathematics with Swedish as the language of instruction.
The chosen method for this study is qualitative interviews, including seven respondents
teaching mathematics at five Swedish lower secondary schools. Via the insight of the
teachers’ perspective, this study answers the following questions;
What specific difficulties do students with Swedish as a second language encounter in
mathematics teaching?
What factors contribute to the difficulties in mathematics learning that students with
Swedish as a second language encounter?
How do mathematics teachers in lower secondary schools work to make it easier for
students with Swedish as a second language who have difficulties?
The study is based on the sociocultural perspective which implies that students learn through interaction with each other so that learning takes place in social contexts.
language comprehension; problem-solving tasks, mathematical concepts, reasoning, and
This study shows
that students with Swedish as a second language (SVA) encounter difficulties connected to
communication. The causes of these difficulties according to the respondents are language
comprehension, cultural differences, prior knowledge, and poor study technique. Common
measures to facilitate the SVA students’ learning in mathematics are interaction, support in
the mother tongue, image support, paying attention to the student’s culture, and increasing
reading comprehension.
These results are relevant for mathematics teachers who teach SVA
students. By understanding the basic problem of the difficulties, teachers can take the right
action and thus provide an equivalent education.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Swedish as a second language , difficulties in mathematics , mathematical language , problem solving