[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-592051-105":59,"doc-detail-592051-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","understanding-the-factors-affecting-students-ability-to-solve-math-word-problems-research-study","Understanding the Factors Affecting Students’ Ability to Solve Math Word Problems - research study","","Word problems are a central item in school mathematics tests, requiring students to interpret linguistic contexts and then apply suitable mathematical models. Using data from a timed online math quiz and an online questionnaire, the study examines how instructional language and text features influence performance. Findings indicate that presenting questions outside learners’ first language can disrupt problem-solving processes, yet sentence length and complexity also substantially shape understanding. While English reading comprehension is viewed as critical, students may still struggle to apply appropriate math models despite extracting correct information.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/understanding-the-factors-affecting-students-ability-to-solve-math-word-problems-research-study/592051/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/understanding-the-factors-affecting-students-ability-to-solve-math-word-problems-research-study/592051.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Mabel","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-09","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main purpose of the study on math word problems?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study investigates which factors influence students’ ability to solve math word problems, focusing on how language and question characteristics affect understanding and performance.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does presenting questions not in a student’s first language affect solving?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The study suggests that when questions are not presented in participants’ first language, they are likely to disturb the problem-solving process.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why might students still fail even if they extract accurate information from the context?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Participants may be able to obtain correct information but still fail to apply the appropriate math model needed to solve the problems.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592051,1792208708,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46,"preview_page_count":4},7971474920318,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000ee537e6b0ca360?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1788430171632181674","Understanding the Factors Affecting Students’Ability to Solve Math Word Problems  \nYuk-yin Kwok  \nSenior Lecturer, College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, [frieda.kwok@cpce-polyu.edu.hk](frieda.kwok@cpce-polyu.edu.hk)  \nChun-kit Kwan  \nSenior Lecturer, College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, [wilson.kwan@cpce-polyu.edu.hk](wilson.kwan@cpce-polyu.edu.hk)  \nWord problems are a question type commonly seen in math tests and exams. Since word problems are an integral part in teaching and learning of mathematics in schools, understanding what factors that would affect students’ ability to solve math word problems may help students understand where their weaknesses lie and help teachers adopt effective approaches to assess students’ ability of solving math word problems. Through the data collected from a timed online math quiz and an online questionnaire survey, the present study suggests that math word problems that are not presented in participants’ first language will be likely to cause disturbances to their process of solving the problems, but even when the questions are not presented in participants’ first language, the difference in the length nor the complexity of sentence structure of the questions would greatly affect their understanding of the context. Participants in general have the perception that their English reading comprehension ability is a critical factor that affects their performance of solving math word problems, but surprisingly, even though the participants could extract accurate information from the question context, they might not be able to apply the appropriate math model to solve the problems.  \nKeywords: math word problems, online math test, question setting, math models, instructional language  \nINTRODUCTION  \nWord problems are of great importance in teaching and learning of mathematics in schools (Bernado, 2002) . They are commonly and frequently used to teach mathematics and assess students’ ability to apply the appropriate math models to solve the given problems.  \nWhen students do not perform well in a math assessment, they are usually assumed weak in mathematical skills. However, research suggested that in addition to students’ mathematic skills, other factors such as students’ attitude (Harun et al., 2021) should be considered when students fail a mathematics test. Pungut and Shahrill (2014) suggested that students’ language competence attached considerable significance when students were required to solve math words problems, which are a common question type in mathematics tests. They defined math word problems as “mathematical questions expressed in sentences and it requires precise understandings over the questions in order to know what mathematical concepts is needed to solve it” (p.2) . When solving a math word problem, students first need to apply their language skills to extract necessary information from the given contexts and then apply their math skills to select the appropriate math model to work out the correct answer. In other words, when students fail to solve a math word problem, it could be due to different reasons; some may lack the required mathematical skills to solve the problems, while some may have misinterpreted the questions due to their weak reading skills.  \nCitation: Kwok, Y., & Kwan, C. (2025) . Understanding the factors affecting students’ ability to solve math word  \nproblems. Anatolian Journal of Education, 10(1), 37-44. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2025.1013a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2025.1013a)  \nCabezuelo and Pavón (2019) suggested that students would find it more challenging to take math assessments that are not presented in their first language as students would face linguistic difficulty and mathematical complexity at the same time. Bernardo (2002) questioned whether not using students’ first language to set the questions would influence t","cbCailCYgnQ2FZ6i","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailCYgnQ2FZ6i","pdf",252377,"English","# Introduction\n## Importance of math word problems\n## Factors beyond mathematical skills\n## Role of language competence in solving word problems\n## Relationship between reading comprehension and model construction","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the study on math word problems?\",\"answer\":\"The study investigates which factors influence students’ ability to solve math word problems, focusing on how language and question characteristics affect understanding and performance.\"},{\"question\":\"How does presenting questions not in a student’s first language affect solving?\",\"answer\":\"The study suggests that when questions are not presented in participants’ first language, they are likely to disturb the problem-solving process.\"},{\"question\":\"Why might students still fail even if they extract accurate information from the context?\",\"answer\":\"Participants may be able to obtain correct information but still fail to apply the appropriate math model needed to solve the problems.\"}]","Understanding the Factors Affecting Students’ Ability to Solve Math Word Problems - research study | PDF",1792073754]