The myth of “Key words” in word problem

Let me be candid regarding the performance of our students’ mid-year achievement in math particularly Paper 2. Majority of the students in the level really have difficulty in word problems. As I marked, I observed many students rather grab any numbers they see tucked away somewhere in the problem and just guess which operation to perform than read the problem. I wondered about the effectiveness of one suggested intervention for these students were to practice more word problems.

As I go through the word problem, some students commented, “What! Read the whole thing?”…”But last time, teacher A did not make us read! We just look for the key words that would tell us which thing to do.” “What do you mean by key words?” I would persist to ask the student. “You know, like if you see altogether, you are supposed to add up all up. Or if you see product, then it is times”

Such responses from students made me reflect on not only what we teachers teach but also how we teachers teach math. Interestingly, students and some teachers alike still adhere to the myth about the value of key word(s), which I see as a tragic mistake. Experts in reading comprehension – the in-depth understanding of meaningful written word – agree that while key word(s) in context can help build meaning of a passage, these key word(s) are no substitute for reading the full context. I personally believe in this, especially on the need to read the whole context. In addition, there are helpful strategies to better comprehend the context, namely making connection, determining importance, asking questions, predicting, visualizing, ..etc which I considered as effective interventions in helping students improve their word problems. Such strategies to solving word problem will better get our students to focus, think, consider and so solve the word problems.