Language Barriers in Teaching and Understanding ‎Mathematics: Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions

Abstract

This study aimed to find the perception of mathematics teachers and students of MIS and CS departments toward the linguistic barriers in teaching and learning mathematics. Mathematics at the colleges and universities of Saudi Arabia is taught in English language. Students who came from high schools with low proficiency level of English language, got affected in acquiring the skills of mathematics because they developed it in their first language. In conducting this research, two tools were used for data collection. Interviews with the participant teachers from GS department and an online questionnaire shared with the participant students. According to the data results, the non-native participant teachers used translation in their classes as a useful tool to deliver the meaning to the students. However, the Saudi teacher who was interviewed clarified that using Arabic in mathematics classes is difficult. Students were encouraged to develop their English language first in order to achieve better results in mathematics.