Teaching problem-solving strategies to bilingual students: What do research results tell us?

In this study error patterns and areas of difficulty in several problem-solving tasks are isolated for a group of bilingual Hispanic technical college students. The results of tests covering reading speed and comprehension, arithmetic computation, algebraic manipulations and word problems suggest two major areas of difficulty, namely problem-solving speed and expressing word problems in mathematical terminology. Examples are given which illustrate how several errors made in translating problems into mathematical terminology derive from misinterpreting problems. It is argued that traditional methods for teaching problem solving may not be very effective for Hispanics such as those in this study. Suggestions for modifications are given which address the specific needs of these students.