An Analysis of Addition and Subtraction Word Problems in American and Soviet Elementary Mathematics Textbooks

Current theories of how elementary school children solve addition and subtraction word problems have emphasized semantic characteristics of the problems as the major factor influencing ease of solution. The present study assesses the potential impact the instructional environment (textbooks, in particular) might have on the relative difficulty of different types of addition and subtraction word problems by comparing the presentation of word problems in four American textbook series with the corresponding presentation in one Soviet textbook series. In general, the four American text series were found to resemble each other but to differ markedly from the Soviet text series. Several important findings emerged: (a) Distribution of word problems across the various problem types was extremely uneven in the American texts, with two thirds of all problems being of only three simple one-step problem types. The Soviet problems were distributed over many types, including more complex two-step problems; (b) most of the problems in the American texts are those that American children find easiest to solve; (c) Soviet textbooks also provide a more variable and a more distributed method of presentation than do the American textbooks. The implications of this study are discussed in terms of theoretical models of word problem solving and in terms of practical ideas about textbook construction.