What are your thoughts on the new Extension 2 Mathematics syllabus? (1 Viewer)

[manavbhatt]

I think the latest Extension 2 Mathematics syllabus has brought a linguistic aspect to the course. Example:

Consider the statement: ‘For all integers n, if n is a multiple of 6, then n is a multiple of 2’. Which of the following is the contrapositive of the statement?
A. There exists an integer n such that n is a multiple of 6 and not a multiple of 2.
B. There exists an integer n such that n is a multiple of 2 and not a multiple of 6.
C. For all integers n, if n is not a multiple of 2, then n is not a multiple of 6.
D. For all integers n, if n is not a multiple of 6, then n is not a multiple of 2

Consider the statement: ‘If n is even, then if n is a multiple of 3, then n is a multiple of 6’. Which of the following is the negation of this statement?
A. n is odd and n is not a multiple of 3 or 6.
B. n is even and n is a multiple of 3 but not a multiple of 6.
C. If n is even, then n is not a multiple of 3 and n is not a multiple of 6.
D. If n is odd, then if n is not a multiple of 3 then n is not a multiple of 6

This will negatively affect students who speaks English as a second language.

 

[xilbur]

You could look at it that way. However (and this is purely my opinion), I don't think it's too bad? For sure, people who are native English speakers that look at these types of questions can potentially solve them just simply based on how they sound, but that doesn't mean that those with English as a second language cannot solve these types of questions as the crux of the problem lies in 'contrapositive' and 'negation', which are terms you're supposed to learn in E2. I think it's similar to how people who do engineering studies have an advantage on mechanics/vector questions and how that could potentially disadvantage those who don't do engineering. Although people doing engineering studies have better intuition and may solve these questions faster, this doesn't barricade those who only did E2 from solving the question as the crux of the question is rooted in E2 content.