CHAPTER ONE
WHY TEACH ESOL LEARNERS MATHS?
There is a correlation between teaching an ESOL learner maths, and improved English examination results, as shown in my master’s research. Thus it could benefit learners, organisations and teachers
Maths up to Level 2 (GCSE- General Certificate in Secondary Education) is fully funded in the UK for any learner, as long as they have not already passed the UK GCSE at grade 4 or better. This is regardless of the levels of maths in countries of origin
The content of this publication covers the building blocks maths topics that interfere with understanding of subsequent maths work, regardless of qualifications
Some topics in ESOL and maths exams overlap, which can be used to advantage
Dictionaries can be used in examinations
Adults who return to maths after negative school experiences or who speak little English are all very brave!
Introduction
This website is intended to guide two groups of teachers: maths teachers who have little or no experience of ESOL learners, and ESOL teachers who have little experience of maths. By teachers in this publication, I mean all those involved in helping young people or adult learners, so teachers, teaching assistants, maths tutors, etc. It aims to help teachers to understand some of the difficulties learners face when dealing with the UK maths system in all its glories, including such gems as our idiosyncratic spelling system (why is there no ‘u’ in ‘forty’?), and our stubborn adherence to the metric/imperial system of measures, a system which most of the native population is equally at sea with, (‘at sea’ means uncertain about). Not to mention our sudden insertion of nautical references, a hangover from our seafaring past, and our annoying habit of using one word in more than one way, such as hangover!
My research for a master’s degree in Education, which looked at data over 5 years, showed that maths learners who were also ESOL students outperformed their non-maths studying ESOL peers by around 20%- see the research further on- although why that is we can only speculate. It seems clear though that studying maths alongside ESOL could benefit everyone involved in the teaching and learning process.
Funding
Teaching maths to ESOL learners in the UK has become very attractive to those who deliver education for adults, whether in FE colleges or out in the community, as providing learners are enrolled, it is funded by the government via the SFS (Skills Funding Service Manage your education and skills funding). This may be subject to certain criteria, such as those learners must not have passed a Level 2 or equivalent Maths qualification in the UK in the last five years, but this is unlikely to be an issue for the vast majority of ESOL learners. Some funding is dependent on examinations, but portfolios can be accepted on some courses.
Content
It is not the intention of this website to cover all the topics in the Adult Numeracy Core Curriculum, whether you are teaching towards Functional Skills (FS) or GCSE qualifications, or the adult qualifications which are portfolio based. The maths levels of the core curriculum are often not applicable here, as I have tried to cover the building blocks that support much of the subsequent maths work, such as the differences in languages. These are needed by learners whose maths skills range from basic levels up to the highest levels. Most importantly, they may be needed in real life, and not just in maths classes.
Each year that I have taught ESOL Maths my learners have taught me something new which has added to the bank of resources. These are included ready for photocopying or scanning and I hope you will find them useful. I have covered many of the topics that ESOL learners have particular issues with, because what happens in their first language differs from what happens in English, such as the use of commas and points in decimal numbers, or where the pronunciation of their own language differs from English, which can lead to confusion and misunderstandings. This includes issues such as non-pronunciation of word endings, which occurs in French and Chinese. These tend to be topics that native English speakers have no trouble with, as they have used the mathematical conventions and the English language for so long, they are ingrained into their very psyche.
However, in other maths topics, such as word problems and fractions, both English and non- English speakers may struggle, although for different reasons. I have included a small selection of worksheets and resources that may help all learners. The worksheets and matching activities towards the end of this publication have been designed and refined over almost twenty years of teaching maths up to GCSE level, to ESOL and English-speaking learners. They are designed to help to fill in those missing bits of knowledge that are key to understanding. If you or your learners spot a gap, please send me a copy of your resource and it might be included in the next update, suitably acknowledged of course!
Topic overlaps between maths and ESOL
When you are working with ESOL learners whose maths and language skills are at Entry Level the assessments are topic based, so it is possible to choose a topic in ESOL and FS maths that is the same. For instance, ‘Shopping’ appears in both exam topic banks of many exam boards. This will help your learners enormously, especially at the lower levels, as it limits the amount of vocabulary they will need to know.
Dictionaries in examinations
In the maths exams learners who have been in the UK for less than 3 years are allowed the use of a bilingual dictionary, but not all learners will have one. Electronic dictionaries are now allowed, but the speech function must be turned off (along with internet access), and some of my Chinese learners rely heavily on hearing the word rather than seeing it written.
Finally…
Finally, I try to be very considerate to ESOL learners. They are among the bravest people I have ever met. However, it can also take English speakers a lot of courage to re-enrol in a maths class, when it was a topic that they disliked, or even hated, at school, because they found it too difficult. Respect to them all!
JMS 2026