Math Challenges for ELL Students

One of the biggest challenges is teaching students vocabulary words. For example, students may not know the words multiplication and division since they are most likely going to be called different things in other languages. Another challenge is talking to parents who recently moved to the U.S. and don't speak the language. It can be difficult to have a parent-teacher conference and discuss a students strength and weaknesses if the parents don't understand what the teacher is saying. If students went to school in other countries, teachers might have handled mathematics instruction differently than a teacher in the U.S. This means that students will have to adapt to their new math class and may even reject it at first. Cooperative learning groups and activities are also going to be a challenge in math classes. Since students don't speak English that well, they may have trouble communicating with their peers. If students come from different countries, they will have came from different curriculums and pace levels. Some of these students may be ahead or behind the other students. For young American students who just don't have a good grip on the English language, they are probably slower learners than other students and learn math slower too. The teacher faces the challenge of making sure that these students are learning on their own level and getting additional help and support if they need it. These are challenges that I faced as an ELL math student. When we did have math groups or partners, none of the other students wanted to work with me since I was different from them. This is a challenge that teachers are going to have to deal with as well. When teachers made them work with me, I had a hard time working with them since communication was a big issue and the language barrier made it hard for me to work with others in math or any other subject.