Does Biliteracy + Mathematical Discourse = Binumerate Development? Language Use in a Middle School Dual-Language Mathematics Classroom

Abstract

Few studies on the role of bilingualism in mathematics classrooms explore the intersection of biliteracy, language use, mathematical discourse, and numeracy-especially at the middle school level. Drawing from biliteracy development theory and reform mathematics education literature, this qualitative case study of a dual-language mathematics classroom shows how English language learners (ELLs)/bilinguals use their first (L1) and second language (L2) as resources to access advanced mathematical curriculum. The article provides glimpses of instructional strategies that encourage mathematics discourse and biliteracy development. Encouraging secondary bilingual students to solve non-routine mathematical problems collaboratively may not only promote student engagement but also promote binumerate development.

English Learners in K–12 Mathematics Education: A Review of the Literature

“…In addition to possible increases in learning for ELs taught in their primary language, drawing on a student’s L1 is beneficial because ELs naturally draw on it when engaging in mathematical reasoning (Clarkson, 2007; Rubinstein-Ávila et al, 2015). The process of students’ moving between L1 and L2 is commonly referred to as code switching in the mathematics education literature, although more recently researchers are transitioning to the use of translanguaging (e.g., García & Wei, 2014) in a bid to move away from the deficit framing of much of the early research on code switching (Moschkovich, 2007).…”

“…Some types of mathematics tasks may create more opportunities than others for ELs to draw on their existing linguistic resources, and teachers of ELs can select such mathematical tasks to facilitate learning opportunities in linguistically diverse classrooms (Barwell, 2005b; Razfar, 2013; Rubinstein-Ávila et al, 2015; Turner & Celedón-Pattichis, 2011). For example, Razfar (2013) examined bilingual Latinx students’ mathematical engagement with open-ended tasks during an after-school program and found that such tasks allowed for students’ use of their L1, which, in turn, helped facilitate students’ meaning making.…”

“…Primary language as a resource. In considering language beyond spoken and written English, evidence has been found for purposefully supporting ELs in drawing on their L1 in the mathematics classroom (Civil & Hunter, 2015;Clarkson, 2007;Planas & Civil, 2013;Rubinstein-Ávila, Sox, Kaplan, & McGraw, 2015). For example, in examining students in Papua New Guinea, Matang and Owens (2014) found that, in early arithmetic, children who learned traditional counting systems in their primary language of Tok Ples outperformed children taught in English.…”

Epistemological aspects of multilingualism in mathematics education: an inferentialist approach

“…A first wave of research in language-as-resource has become a leading trend during the past decade (see, e.g. Barwell, 2009;Bose & Clarkson, 2016;Moschkovich, 2008Moschkovich, , 2015Planas, 2014;Planas & Civil, 2013;Rubinstein-Ávila, Sox, Kaplan, & McGraw, 2015;Setati & Adler, 2000). Recently, researchers in a second wave have problematised (Parra & Trinick, 2018) and theoretically elaborated on (Barwell, 2018;Chronaki & Planas, 2018;Planas, 2018) the language-as-resource metaphor.…”

Language as resource: a key notion for understanding the complexity of mathematics learning

“…While codeswitching implies the recognition of prescriptive language systems and the assumption that communication neatly breaks into languages, translanguaging refers to what people actually do with language to convey meaning. Instead of signaling the alternation of enclosed language systems, translanguaging sees language as an open broader system that allows combinations of social, cultural, and linguistic codes (Rubinstein-Ávila, Sox, Kaplan, & McGraw, 2015). The focus is thus on what learners do by means of all their (social) languages and not on how they perform language in normative ways.…”