Talk:Algebra I/Introduction to Basic Algebra Ideas/Translating Words into Math Symbols

As far as I can think, "of" means multiply not divide. If 12 cans of 12 oz beer equaled 1, I'd be sober.

Is this Chapter Appropriate?

This book is for teaching Math not English.

But everything expressible in math is a proper subset of English. JCGonzales 03:29, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Learning how to say $3-5*2$ in English does little to learn concepts such as the order of operations. Trying to teach the students to translate math notation to and from an unfamiliar language will be confusing and unproductive.--Ezra Katz 22:33, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Algebra is a language -- a formal language -- that new students have initial difficulty in learning because it is not understandable to them. In the United States, a major factor in the lack of preparation by most first-year dorm dwellers for college-level mathematics and science is their lack of comprehension of basic algebra as a formal language. Without that comprehension, word problems are universally dreaded exercises, and students lack the ability to see the world around them in terms of interpretations that lend themselves to the construction of mathematical models. Those students can be effectively classified as functional illiterates in a computer-networked world, or as some in the media have called them, techno-peasants. The avoidance of teaching students to freely and seemlessly move from conversational English to algebra as a formal language points directly to their reduced probability of success in a modern global economy of the Information Age. As professors, instructors, teachers, and tutors, we fail students when we don't show them the connection between observation of the real world, their usage of words and grammar, and the formulation of processes that can be modeled not only in the formal language of algebra but in any computer-parsable algorithmic language... or maybe we should just surrender to their texting to each other in single characters. The removal of this section goes far to define the usefulness of the remaining material on this freely accessible website: You get what you pay for. Cc: to Jimbo, please. JCGonzales 03:29, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I questioned the usefulness of this chapter because its basic content was "of" means divide, "and" means add. Since the audience of the book has a limited knowledge of English I feel this would add unnecessary complexity to an already limited vocabulary. I definitely support and advocate word problems throughout this book to help learners understand the "language" of Algebra, but I feel a single chapter devoted to confusing semantics is counter productive. If someone can come up with materials that aid in understanding word problems go ahead and write something, but at the moment I can't think of anything that couldn't be introduced through example word problems in other chapters. --Ezra Katz 00:07, 21 June 2007 (UTC)