Abstract:

Research has long acknowledged the complexity of teaching and learning of mathematics in linguistically diverse contexts (see Adler, 2001; Moschkovich & Zahner, 2018) such as that in South Africa. In South Africa, underachievement in high stakes mathematics examinations has been found to be more prevalent among learners who use English language less frequently at home and in areas where English is less frequently used at home. It is not uncommon for parents, education officers, researchers, etc to point accusing fingers at the teacher and the quality of teaching that occurs in mathematics classrooms as the source of this problem. But the question that needs to be answered is: how are teachers prepared to deal with teaching mathematics in a linguistically diverse context such as that of South Africa? Even though the Constitution and the Language-in-Education Policy give provision for learners to learn in any of the 11 official languages of their choice, research has shown that due to economic, political and ideological factors, most learners prefer to learn mathematics in English which for most, is not their first or home language. Using Wenger’s communities of practice theory (Wenger, 2001) and combined with meaning making as a dialogic process (Mortimer & Scott, 2005) as a theoretical and methodological lens, this study undertook to examine the different mathematical practices-in-use in different multilingual teacher education (TE) classroom contexts at three universities in South Africa where pre-service teachers are prepared to teach mathematics in multilingual classrooms at the end of their qualifications. The paper examines the meaning making process in these classrooms and what opportunities for learning are developed through dominant practices in use in these teacher education contexts. The universities were chosen because they present contrasting contexts of pre-service TE. These three contexts which represent most classrooms in sub-Saharan Africa include when 1) the teacher educator does not share a common language with the students; 2) the teacher educator shares a common language with almost all the students; 3) the teacher educator shares a common language with only some students. Qualitative analysis of classroom observations and post observation interviews of three teacher educators (one in each context) revealed that even though teacher educators mostly use the same mathematical practices in their teaching, the way in which these practices are used in the three classroom contexts opened up different possibilities for the pre-service teachers as far as learning mathematics for the purpose of teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms is concerned. The implications for teaching and learning mathematics in multilingual teacher education multilingual classrooms will be discussed.

References:
[1] Adler, J. (2001). Teaching Mathematics in Multilingual Classrooms. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
[2] Mortimer, E. F., & Scott, P. H. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
[3] Moschkovich, J., Zahner, W. (2018). Using the academic literacy in mathematics framework to uncover multiple aspects of activity during peer mathematical discussions. ZDM-Mathematics Education 50, 999–1011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-018-0982-9
[4] Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Keywords:

Mathematics discourse, language-in-education policy, communities of practice.