The Language of Math

For some students, a math disability is driven by problems with language. These students may also experience difficulty with reading, writing, and speaking. In math, however, their language problem is confounded by the inherently difficult terminology, some of which they never hear outside of the math classroom. These students find word problems especially difficult to translate, as they have difficulty understanding written or verbal directions or explanations. A student with a deficiency in this skill may:

* be confused by language in word problems
* have trouble learning or recalling specialized terms
* have difficulty understanding directions
* be unable to explain their confusion about math concepts and procedures
* have difficulty reading texts to direct their own learning
* have difficulty remembering assigned values or definitions in specific problems