REMEDIAL MEASURES TO OVERCOME LANGUAGE BARRIERS FOR ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS IN VIETNAM IN PRIMARY MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

REMEDIAL MEASURES TO OVERCOME LANGUAGE BARRIERS FOR ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS IN VIETNAM IN PRIMARY MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Tran Thuy Nga* ngatt@vnies.edu.vn The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences 101 Tran Hung Dao, Cua Nam ward, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tran Ngoc Bich bichtn@tnue.edu.com Thai Nguyen University of Education No. 20 Luong Ngoc Quyen street, Phan Dinh Phung ward, Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam
Hoang Mai Le hmle@daihocthudo.edu.vn Thai Nguyen University of Education No. 98 Duong Quang Ham street, Nghia Do ward, Hanoi, Vietnam
Bui Huyen Trang buitrang429@gmail.com Hanoi National University of Education 136 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay ward. Hanoi, Vietnam
Summary: 
Language barriers pose a significant challenge for ethnic minority students in Vietnam in the process of acquiring mathematical knowledge. Based on the theoretical framework of language transfer and the results of a large-scale survey of 3,463 primary school teachers, this paper identifies three core groups of barriers commonly encountered by students: 1)Difficulties in decoding mathematical language, 2)Difficulties in understanding the conceptual meaning of mathematical terms, and 3)Difficulties in transforming representations. Based on these practical foundations, the study proposes several pedagogical measures to support ethnic minority students, including visualizing concepts, connecting knowledge with real-life experiences, enhancing Vietnamese proficiency in mathematics instruction, and applying digital technology. Feasibility testing results, obtained through training sessions for 185 educational managers and key teachers across 21 provinces, reveal high consensus regarding the necessity and feasibility of these measures. These findings contribute to the effective implementation of the 2018 General Education Curriculum in ethnic minority regions.
Keywords: 
Ethnic minority students
language barriers
Mathematics Education
primary education.
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