Student’s mathematics communication skill by reading comprehension skill on solving word problem

Describing students’ mathematic communication skill in solving mathematic word problem is the aim of this research. The type of research is descriptive qualitative. Students with guardian personality become the focus of this research by selecting two samples which are Guardian personality type student with average reading skill, and Guardian personality type student with low reading skill. The data collection technique used in this research is inventory test, reading skill test, mathematic communication test, and interview. The test and interview results are analyzed based on four indicators: (1) the competence to present visual idea, (2) the competence in using mathematic notation, (3) the understanding of mathematic concept, (4) the ability to paraphrase mathematic problem in their words comprehensively. The description results of average reading skill Guardian type students show that they are capable to represent mathematic word problem with exceptional concept as well as representing those problem on their own language and perspective. However, they face difficulty on using mathematic notation in order to solve the mathematic word problem. The low reading skill Guardian type students show that their capability to represent mathematic word problem into graphic is limited, similar to the other task, which are using the mathematic notation on problem solving, and understanding the fundamental of the material taught by the teacher. They also need longer time to fully understand the concept since their ability in reading comprehension is not enough.