This paper adopts a qualitative approach to investigate classroom interaction in mathematics and science at the elementary school level. Specifically, it examines teacher oral language to elucidate the role it plays in shaping students’ learningenvironment in a Creole language context. Using a framework of Halliday’s systemicfunctional linguistics and Bourdieu’s social theory, I analyze six instructional episodes in mathematics and science to uncover features of teachers’ oral language that influence students’ learning environment. The analysis suggests that teachers’ classroom speech reflects the linguistic complexities of school mathematics and science, and can be challenging for learners’ comprehension, especially in a second language situation. Sociolinguistic aspects of classroom interaction are also important to fully understand how teacher language affects student engagement in classroom discourse when their active participation is crucial to the understanding and use of academic language. Based on the findings and the research literature, I offer recommendations and a strategy for teachers who wish to use language in ways that better facilitate student learning across the curriculum.
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