Students understanding of the language of mathematics and performance at ordinary level in Tanzania

The study investigated students' understanding of the language of mathematics in Tanzanian Ordinary secondary schools, whereby the performances of the majority in the subject have been lower when compared to other subjects. The study involved ten (10) sampled Ordinary Level secondary schools in Iringa region in Tanzania. Data were collected through focus group discussion with students (N= 66), teachers' questionnaires (N=33), interview with teachers (N=11), students' questionnaires (N=598), documentary review, and classroom observations. An achievement test comprising language of mathematics and algorithmic skill tests was administered to 598 students. Data were processed and analysed descriptively and inferentially using Pearson's correlation coefficient and Microsoft excel. The study findings revealed that, there was disparity in teachers' perceptions of the nature of mathematics. Students' perceptions of the nature of mathematics and mathematics teachers' classrooms actions showed that, mathematics was perceived to be not beyond the applications of the algorithmic skills. Teachers' lesson preparations and teaching methods led to students' lack of language of mathematics experience. The nature of examinations and tests that were administered contributed a significant role in students' learning styles, and decelerated students' understanding of the language of mathematics. Result from the achievement test showed that, relationship between students' understanding of the language of mathematics and performance in mathematics was moderate positive (r= 0.428, n= 598, p<0.01). The magnitude of the differences in the means in both the language of mathematics and algorithmic skills tests was very small [t(487) = 1.084, p=0.279]. These statistical results showed that, sex difference in understanding of the language of mathematics was not statistically significant. Replication of this study will add knowledge and therefore facilitate the effort to improve mathematics teaching and learning process. Furthermore, there is a need for experimental studies that would compare mathematics performance between mathematical language and traditional mathematical classrooms.