The impact of mathematical-content complexity on students' mathematics-writing performance.

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Title: The impact of mathematical-content complexity on students' mathematics-writing performance.
Authors: Han, Xiaonan1 (AUTHOR), Lin, Xin1 (AUTHOR) XinLin@um.edu.mo, Song, Xiuwen1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Reading & Writing. Apr2026, Vol. 39 Issue 4, p1187-1210. 24p.
Subject Terms: *Mathematics education, *Assessment of education, *Educators, *Academic achievement, Mathematical notation, Hypothesis
Abstract: Mathematics writing (MW) is essential for mathematics learning. To gain a better understanding of MW, we examine the performance of 183 Chinese sixth-grade students on two MW prompts with different levels of mathematical-content complexity: a simple prompt focused on understanding the equal sign and a more complex prompt involving multi-digit operations. The findings revealed that compared to simple MW prompt, students used less mathematics vocabulary, made more grammatical errors, and demonstrated less clarity and precision in complex prompt. Additionally, Chinese students tended to rely more on procedural knowledge, with a decrease in their use of conceptual knowledge as the MW content became more complex. These results suggest that the complexity of mathematical content negatively impacts MW performance. Educators should therefore consider the complexity of prompts when teaching MW to support better student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Reading & Writing is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: The impact of mathematical-content complexity on students' mathematics-writing performance.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Han%2C+Xiaonan%22">Han, Xiaonan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lin%2C+Xin%22">Lin, Xin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> XinLin@um.edu.mo</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Song%2C+Xiuwen%22">Song, Xiuwen</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Reading+%26+Writing%22">Reading & Writing</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 39 Issue 4, p1187-1210. 24p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematics+education%22">Mathematics education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Assessment+of+education%22">Assessment of education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educators%22">Educators</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+achievement%22">Academic achievement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematical+notation%22">Mathematical notation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hypothesis%22">Hypothesis</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
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  Data: Mathematics writing (MW) is essential for mathematics learning. To gain a better understanding of MW, we examine the performance of 183 Chinese sixth-grade students on two MW prompts with different levels of mathematical-content complexity: a simple prompt focused on understanding the equal sign and a more complex prompt involving multi-digit operations. The findings revealed that compared to simple MW prompt, students used less mathematics vocabulary, made more grammatical errors, and demonstrated less clarity and precision in complex prompt. Additionally, Chinese students tended to rely more on procedural knowledge, with a decrease in their use of conceptual knowledge as the MW content became more complex. These results suggest that the complexity of mathematical content negatively impacts MW performance. Educators should therefore consider the complexity of prompts when teaching MW to support better student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Reading & Writing is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s11145-025-10647-7
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      – Code: eng
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              Text: Apr2026
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