Culturally responsive assessment in mathematical word problems and numerical cognition in multilingual education

In multilingual education systems, the cultural disconnect between students’ lived experiences and assessment content can significantly hinder both comprehension and performance, especially in mathematics. This study investigated the role of cultural familiarity in shaping students’ numerical cognition and affective engagement when solving mathematical word problems in Ghanaian public schools. A quasi-experimental, between-subjects design was employed, involving 160 upper primary and junior high school students from ethnolinguistically diverse classrooms in the Greater Accra and Central Region. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group receiving culturally familiar math word problems or a control group with culturally unfamiliar tasks. Independent samples t-tests revealed that students exposed to culturally familiar tasks scored significantly higher in mathematics performance (M = 7.21, SD = 1.64) than those in the control group (M = 5.83, SD = 1.59), with t(158) = 5.66, p < 0.001, d = 0.89. A two-way ANOVA showed a statistically significant interaction between cultural familiarity and language proficiency (F(1, 156) = 4.31, p = 0.039), indicating that the positive effects of cultural familiarity were amplified among students with higher language skills. Non-parametric tests further showed significant differences in confidence levels U = 1962.5, p < 0.001) and task motivation across demographic subgroups. Multivariate regression analysis confirmed that cultural familiarity predicted higher engagement (β = 0.53, p < 0.001), lower anxiety (β = − 0.41, p = 0.002), and increased perceived relevance (β = 0.46, p < 0.001) of the tasks. Students reported feeling more connected to and confident in the problems when these reflected their cultural settings, reinforcing the emotional and cognitive benefits of culturally grounded instruction. These findings accentuate the educational value of embedding culturally responsive content in assessments to promote not only accuracy and reasoning but also emotional engagement and fairness. In multilingual and multicultural settings like Ghana, such strategies contribute to more equitable and effective learning environments by affirming students’ identities and enhancing comprehension. The study advances the discourse on culturally responsive assessment and highlights the need for policy shifts, practice transformation, and further research into context-sensitive learning interventions.