How do Arab Students in Higher Education Institutions Perceive the Influence of Mother Tongue Mastery on Their Mathematical Skills Development and Performance

Abstract

This research examines and analyzes how Arab students enrolled in higher education in Israel view the effect of mother tongue mastery on their development of mathematical skills and academic outcomes. This research was undertaken to discuss the ongoing concerns that students face with cognitive, academic, and emotional impact after learning mathematics in another language (i.e. Hebrew). The research employed qualitative methodology involving semi-structured prompted interviews and focus groups with 45 first-year Arab students. The data from this research shows students who had a better command of their mother tongue did understand better and had more confidence in their ability from the outset, which was noted by very high academic performance in pedagogy and mathematics. Major findings reveal using a mother tongue influences cognition processing and problem-solving and that second-language instruction could produce emotional barriers and barriers in understanding. Overall, the study recommends supporting mother-tongue instruction, encouraging translanguaging practices, and developing culturally responsive pedagogical materials. The recommendations will provide support for theories in language-cognition relationships and offer practical considerations for promoting educational equity and improvements to learning outcomes for linguistically marginalized students in multilingual locales.