Adolescents’ Problem Solving Ability in Mathematics and Medium of Instruction

Background: Today’s world considers English as a global language because there has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English [1]. The main idea of English medium instruction (EMI) is to combine the conventional instruction of content-area subjects with foreign language-learning. Using a foreign language is certainly a major obstacle in problem solving in mathematics since it involves abstract thinking and mastery of mathematical terminology which make a high demand on language proficiency.

Objective: Objective of this present study was to explore the role of medium of instruction on problem solving ability in mathematics of adolescent boys.

Hypothesis: Students of Odia medium schools (mother tongue based instruction) would score more in problem solving ability test as compared to students of English medium schools.

Methods: The size of the sample was 120. Out of 120 boys, 60 boys from English medium schools and 60 boys from Odia medium schools within the age bracket of 14-15 yrs were purposively selected from various schools of Cuttack. Problem solving ability test developed by Roop Rekha Garg was used for data collection. A t-test was applied to know the significance of mean difference among English and Odia medium students with respect to their scores in mathematical problem solving ability test.

Results: Results reveal that there is a significant difference between students of English medium and students of Odia medium with regard to their scores in mathematical problem solving ability test.

Conclusion: Problem solving ability in mathematics is high among students studying in Odia medium schools as compared to the students of English medium schools.