Children's comprehension of polysemous estimation words and phrases

Linguistic aspects of mathematics education are often cited as problematic for young children acquiring mathematical skills. This study examined the relationship between the comprehension of words and phrases used when estimating (e.g., roughly, between, guess) and children's estimation abilities. Sixty-four children between six and eleven years (6-7, 8-9, 10-11) completed an estimation word comprehension test before undertaking a range of estimating tasks in mathematical and non- mathematical contexts. The results indicated that children in the middle and upper age groups find estimation words easier to understand when accompanied with number or measurement expressions. Comprehension of specific estimation words varied considerably and was significantly associated with only two of 24 estimation tasks. These findings highlight the need for caution when interpreting the relationship between language comprehension and mathematical ability and are discussed with respect to broader issues surrounding polysemic and homonymic comprehension.