Students’ grasp of the non-mathematical language in a mathematics story problem—such as vocabulary and syntax—may have an important effect on their problem-solving, and this may be particularly true for students with weaker language skills. However, little experimental research has examined which individual language features influence students’ performance while solving problems—much research has been correlational or has combined language features together. In the present study, we manipulated six different language features of algebra story problems—number of sentences, pronouns, word concreteness, word hypernymy, consistency of sentences, and problem topic—and examined how systematically varying readability demands impacts student performance. We examined both accuracy and response time measures, using an assignment for learning linear functions in the ASSISTments online problem-solving environment. We found little evidence that individual language features have a considerable effect on mathematics word problem solving performance for a general population of students. However, sentence consistency reduced response time and problems about motion or travel had shorter response times than problems about business or work. In addition, it appears students may benefit or be harmed by language modifications depending on their familiarity with ASSISTments. Implications for the role of language in math word problems are discussed.

中文翻译：

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数学故事问题的语言修改对在线作业中解决问题的影响

学生对数学故事问题（例如词汇和句法）的非数学语言的掌握可能会对他们的问题解决产生重要影响，对于语言技能较弱的学生尤其如此。然而，很少有实验研究检查哪些个别语言特征在解决问题时会影响学生的表现—大部分研究是相关的或将语言特征组合在一起。在本研究中，我们操纵了代数故事问题的六种不同语言特征-句子数量，代词，单词具体性，单词高音，句子一致性和问题主题-并研究了系统地变化的可读性要求如何影响学生的表现。我们检查了准确性和响应时间两个指标，在ASSISTments在线问题解决环境中使用作业来学习线性函数。我们发现几乎没有证据表明个别语言功能对广大学生的数学单词问题解决能力有很大影响。但是，句子的一致性缩短了响应时间，并且有关出差或旅行的问题比有关业务或工作的问题的响应时间更短。此外，根据他们对ASSISTments的熟悉程度，学生可能会因为语言修改而受益或受到伤害。讨论了语言在数学单词问题中的作用。我们发现几乎没有证据表明个别语言功能对广大学生的数学单词问题解决能力有很大影响。但是，句子的一致性缩短了响应时间，并且有关出差或旅行的问题比有关业务或工作的问题的响应时间更短。此外，根据他们对ASSISTments的熟悉程度，学生可能会因为语言修改而受益或受到伤害。讨论了语言在数学单词问题中的作用。我们发现几乎没有证据表明个别语言功能对广大学生的数学单词问题解决能力有很大影响。但是，句子的一致性缩短了响应时间，并且有关出差或旅行的问题比有关业务或工作的问题的响应时间更短。另外，视语言的修改而定，学生可能会受益或受到伤害，这取决于他们对ASSISTments的熟悉程度。讨论了语言在数学单词问题中的作用。