A Linguistic Basis for Student Difficulties with Algebra.

Student difficulties with algebra are common, not only when students are first introduced to the subject in secondary school, but also when they are presumed to have mastered the subject and are beginning to study calculus. One need only utter the phrase "word problems" to elicit a sympathetic response, though this is certainly not the only trouble calculus students have with algebra. It is the thesis of this paper that a major component of student difficulty with algebra is the inability to make sense of the algebraic symbol system as a language, and accordingly that remedies should be sought by considering algebra in a linguistic