Medium of Instruction and Secondary School Students’ Mathematics Self-efficacy

Abstract

The medium of teaching substantially drives the students’ learning capabilities.  Teaching mathematics in an unfamiliar language can obstruct a learner’s understanding, discourage classroom participation, and decline their performance. This research examines the level of mathematics self-efficacy of the secondary level students in relation to medium of instruction, and the discrepancy in the efficacy level of the students taught in English and Nepali mediums in Nepal. The required data were collected, embracing a quantitative method, from 402 students using a standardized self-efficacy scale. The statistics revealed that the students under   Nepali medium teaching exhibited slightly higher mean self-efficacy scores than those taught in English medium. Nevertheless, the difference between teaching impacts under the two mediums was not statistically significant as demonstrated by the independent sample t-test.  These revelations signposted that the medium of instruction alone does not significantly condition a student’s confidence in mathematical aptitudes. Appropriating the Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura and the Linguistic Independence Hypothesis of Cummins, this research highlighted the importance of contextual and reformed instructional element in elevating self-efficacy.  This study implied that the educational policies and classroom approaches be bettered by accentuating the support to the learners under both instructional mediums through operational pedagogy than emphasizing the choice of medium alone.