The Academic Language Barrier

The language of math and science often feels alien and bewildering to students -- and even to adults. Academic language therefore presents a significant barrier to achieving learning outcomes. But not all is lost! This episode explores what the learning sciences say about how you can overcome the academic language barrier. For a deeper dive: *A 2024 working paper on causal research studying the impact of teaching mathematical language on assessment performance: https://doi.org/10.26300/1zcm-d071 https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai24-1029.pdf * A 2021 literature review examining the effect of language on mathematical understanding: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1345568.pdf