Does reading comprehension competence determine level of solving mathematical word problems competence?

Abstract This study aims to investigate the interaction between problem solving skills in mathematical words and reading comprehension. The method used is correlational by linking reading comprehension competence and ability to solve mathematical word problems. Participants were 300 children aged 9-10 (Grades 3 and 4) taken from 3 school clusters of low, medium and high categories from various aspects. Reading comprehension skills in text and children’s mathematical word problem solving performance are tested. The results showed that the ability to read comprehension had a very strong relationship with the ability to solve mathematical word problems. The ability to understand the relationship between words and words in a sentence that contains problems is crucial for students to solve mathematical word problems. The school cluster chosen also influences the level of children’s mathematical word problem solving ability and reading comprehension skills. From the results of this study, researcher recommend teaching reading and counting in elementary schools be carried out in an integrated manner.