Effects of Linguistic Complexity and Math Difficulty on Word Problem Solving by English Learners
Prior research suggests that linguistic complexity may impede mathematics word problem
solving by English Learners, but results have been inconsistent. The present study employed
an experimental design to investigate the effects of linguistic complexity and mathematics
difficulty on word problem solving by middle school English Learners. Results were
consistent with predictions from Cognitive Load Theory: Performance was poorer for word
problems written in more complex language compared to the same problems in easier text,
and the weakest performance was observed for problems that were both linguistically and
mathematically challenging. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis suggested a model including a
latent factor, hypothesized to be working memory, provided a good fit to the data.
Additionally, linguistic complexity had a significant influence on students’ perceptions of the
mathematical difficulty of the problems. The results are consistent with recent suggestions
that English Learners’ lower performance in math reflects the additional cognitive demands
associated with text comprehension.
