This exploratory mixed-methods study set out to explore Maltese primary school teachers' perceived barriers to, and enablers for, the integration of children's literature in mathematics teaching. Data were collected by means of an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, and analysed thematically using Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour. The responses given by the participants showed that integration of mathematics and stories was not a common practice. The perceived barriers were categorised as Resource Constraint, Time Constraint, Lack of Pedagogical Knowledge and Confidence, Doubts about Outcome Expectancy, and Inhibiting Social Norms while the three perceived enablers identified were Pedagogical Benefits, Love of Stories, and Enabling Social Norms. Given that the majority of the participating teachers acknowledged the potential benefits of the approach and expressed a wish for training, one key recommendation of the study is for teaching mathematics through stories to be explicitly included in pre-service and in-service professional development programmes.
M altese classrooms are an interesting example of how two official languages are blended in educational settings. The interweaving of the languages makes it diffi-Éducation et Sociétés Plurilingues n° 42 -juin 2017
Marie Thérèse FARRUGIAA Malta l'aula scolastica è un esempio interessante del modo in cui due lingue ufficiali si possano fondere in un contesto educativo. L'intrecciarsi delle lingue fa sì che sia difficile collocare la pratica in uno dei modelli ben noti di educazione bilingue come l'immersione e CLIL (in francese EMILE, Enseignement d'une Matière par l'Intégration d'une Langue Étrangère o DNL, Disciplines Non-Linguistiques). Il contesto maltese è invece un'occasione preziosa per esplorare il processo di "translanguaging" e quest'articolo è incentrato sull'uso del maltese e dell'inglese nell'insegnamento e nell'apprendimento della matematica. Fra l'altro adottare il punto di vista secondo il quale l'apprendimento della matematica implica l'apprendimento del discorso della disciplina permette di mostrare come le pratiche pedagogiche in classe possano aver come obiettivo più esplicitamente il linguaggio matematico. La mia idea è che, così facendo, si possa puntare allo stesso tempo alla forma ed al contenuto.Parole chiave: educazione bilingue, maltese, inglese, translanguaging, educazione matematica, contenuto e lingua A Malte, la salle de classe est un exemple intéressant de la manière dont deux langues officielles se fondent dans un contexte éducatif. L'entrelacement des langues fait qu'il est difficile de caser la pratique dans un des modèles bien connus d'éducation bilingue tels que l'immersion et CLIL (en français EMILE, Enseignement d'une Matière par l'Intégration d'une Langue Étrangère ou DNL, Disciplines Non-Linguistiques). Par contre, le contexte maltais est une précieuse occasion d'explorer le processus de "translanguaging" et cet article est centré sur l'usage du maltais et de l'anglais dans l'enseignement et l'apprentissage des mathématiques. Par ailleurs, adopter le point de vue que l'apprentissage des mathématiques implique l'apprentissage du discours de la discipline, permet de montrer comment les pratiques dans la classe peuvent viser plus explicitement le langage mathématique. Mon idée est que, ce faisant, on peut cibler tout à la fois le contenu et la langue.
The teaching and learning of Primary school mathematics in Malta involves the use of code-switching between the local language Maltese, and English. Mathematical terms themselves are usually retained in English and teachers may use various strategies to share the meaning of these words with their pupils. One strategy that may be used in a bilingual situation is translation @om one language to another. In this paper I explore how a teacher used this strategy to teach her 7 to 8-year-old pupils mathematical vocabulary related to the topic 'Mney and Shopping'. While Maltese equivalents for these words exist, it is the English versions that form part of the school mathematics register. I develop a semiotic model where a mathematical word is considered to be a sign, and the process of translation is viewed as a chain ofsignzjkution from one language to another.
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