Background to the Study

Approximately 1.7 million students, almost half of whom are from non – English speaking developing nations in Asia, cross borders every year to acquire a foreign education (Sawir, 2005). In Ireland, the percentage of international students has increased from 3 per cent in 2002 to 10 per cent in 2012 (Perkins et al., 2013). The Government aims to increase this further as it bids to promote the internationalisation of the Irish Higher Education sector and to significantly increase the proportion of fee paying international students as a means to diversify the income base for HEI’s (DES, 2010). However, the increased arrival of international students has also coincided with the introduction of Project Maths in second level Irish schools. Project Maths is an ambitious reform of Irish mathematics education at second level. It involves changes to what students learn in mathematics, how they learn it and how they will be assessed. There is a much greater emphasis placed on student understanding of mathematical concepts, with increased use of contexts and applications that will enable students to relate mathematics to their everyday experiences. The assessment reflects the different weight on problem solving and applications in the teaching and learning of mathematics and there is a much greater emphasis on reading and understanding the problems. Hence there is a greater emphasis on student’s English language proficiency.

Concern has already been expressed regarding the perceived language demands of the revised mathematics syllabus (Cosgrove et al., 2012; Jeffers et al., 2013). Language permits mathematics learners to ask and answer questions, to convey their understanding and to discuss their answers with others. It also plays a significant role in the processing of mathematical text and the interpretation of questions (Hoosain, 1991). However students with low literacy levels and particularly non – national students for whom English is not a first language struggle with the comprehension and wordy nature of some of the mathematics questions (Cosgrove et al., 2012).

Research Question

Does an increased use of language in mathematical questions effect international students’ achievement in the subject?

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