The language of mathematics is the foundation skill set a child needs to succeed. I had this realisation many years ago when I had English Second Language Learners. I needed a structured way to identify what they could and couldn't understand to inform my teaching.

Administer this pretest if you suspect any student to have skill deficits in the areas of:

• One to one Correspondence
• Cardinal Number
• Maths Concept Development
• Conservation

This process may also apply to learners with a limited oral vocabulary. Differentiate according to the overview and provide the hands-on experiences and language to target the skill directly.