Mathematical Skills among Primary School Children: The Impactof Medium of Instruction and Gender

Abstract

Mother-tongue language-based instruction has positive impact on mathematical skills and gender differences are frequently dealt with acquiring mathematical skills. This research examinedimpact of medium of instruction and gender on mathematical skills of primary school children and used quantitative technique for investigation including two factors: medium of instruction (two levels: Odia and English medium of instruction), gender (two levels: boys and girls) and adopted 2×2 factorial design. The participants wereselectedfrom three Odia and three English medium of instruction schools of Cuttack, Odisha,through random sampling technique. The total participants were 1079: Odia Medium of Instruction boys (94) and girls (167); English Medium of Instruction boys (501) and girls (317). The results were like in grades-II &IV (main and interaction effect), in grade-III (only main effect)and grade-V (only interaction effect) of medium of instruction and gender on mathematical skills were found to be statistically significant.