Achievement in Indonesian Language and Science as Predictors of Mathematics Achievement Among Eighth-Grade Students
Abstract
The relationship between achievement in Mathematics, Indonesian language literacy, and Science is important to examine because Mathematics often shows lower achievement and requires verbal comprehension, representation, and quantitative reasoning. However, empirical evidence regarding the simultaneous relationship between the Indonesian Language and science achievement and mathematics learning achievement among junior high school students still needs to be strengthened based on school data. This study aims to describe the distribution of Mathematics, Indonesian Language, and Science achievement among eighth-grade students; analyze the correlation between Indonesian Language and Science achievement and Mathematics learning achievement; and test the ability of these two achievements to predict Mathematics learning achievement simultaneously. The study employed a quantitative correlational-predictive approach with a sample of 33 eighth-grade students. Data were collected through Mathematics, Indonesian Language, and Science test scores, then analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. The results indicated that Mathematics had the lowest mean and the highest variance compared to Indonesian Language and Science. Indonesian language achievement was positively, moderately, and significantly correlated with mathematics, as was Science. Simultaneously, the Indonesian Language and Science significantly predicted mathematics learning achievement, although the partial contributions of both were not significant. These findings imply that mathematics instruction needs to consider support for academic literacy and scientific contexts without interpreting either as a standalone predictor.
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