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Case: Math Anxiety?
Virgil is an ESL (English as a Second Language) student who has acquired two languages in his upbringing. He is moving to the United States with his family. The entire family is anxious to learn English and the American way of life. Virgil's family is very proud of their heritage and cultural traditions. They have decided to learn English at school and work, but speak their other two languages at home. Virgil is an outgoing young man who experienced difficulties in learning mathematical concepts in his native country. He is hoping that math will be easier for him in the United States. Virgil's parents enroll him in Ms. Tucker's third grade classroom. Hearing the English language being spoken and observing his new environment frightens Virgil. Ms. Tucker decides to ignore Virgil's fearful facial expressions and allow him to be totally immersed in his new culture. She continues to teach the students exactly the way she has done in the past. After all, her teaching methods have been successful for many years. In the afternoon, when the classroom students begin to take out their textbooks with numbers printed on the cover, Virgil perceives that it is time for math. The same sinking feeling he experienced in his old school started to reoccur in his new classroom. Not only was the new language confusing, but the entire math period left Virgil feeling lost and uncomfortable. After a few weeks of math lessons, Ms. Tucker decides to refer Virgil to the Special Education director. It was obvious to Ms. Tucker that Virgil was not understanding the math lessons and he was scoring poorly on the assessments. She felt that perhaps Virgil had some learning disabilities which needed attention. While he was receiving special help with math, Ms. Tucker could conduct class as usual.
Questions:
1. Did Virgil suffer from "math anxiety?"
2. What interventions could Ms. Tucker implement before coming to her conclusions about Virgil?
3. Was total language immersion what Virgil needed?
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
Yes, Virgil suffered from "math anxiety" because he reacted the same way in his native country to math. Moving to a new country did not change that, rather it most likely exacerbated his anxiety. Ms. Tucker should have taken the time to sit down with Virgil and slowly discuss exactly what problems, whether mathematical or lingual, Virgil was experiencing. Also, if the language barrier was too much to overcome, an interpreter or the ESOL personnel could be called in to do the same thing and go over the content. Total language immersion was not what Virgil needed. He already had anxiety to math in his native language and with the immersion technique superimposed, Virgil felt overwhelmed. Referring him to special ed. is very premature response at this stage. I think Virgil should be evaluated solely on his math techniques, without assuming that he is cognitively impaired overall. |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: February 19, 2013 2:49 am |
| Rated By: Taylor Bocook |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: February 25, 2013 7:11 pm |
| Rated By: eMypur |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: February 26, 2013 11:10 am |
| Rated By: |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree that sitting down with him and explaining the process of the problem could be helpful for him in helping his anxiety. Many people overlook that no matter the language barriers, math is the same in every language and country because math itself is a language. Just having a sit down talk with him should slowly help him overcome his anxiety. |
| Rated On: October 19, 2014 11:51 pm |
| Rated By: dePyja |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: October 16, 2017 4:04 am |
| Rated By: guXyLy |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I totally agree |
| Rated On: October 19, 2020 12:13 am |
| Rated By: usuBuQ |
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