Fostering German-language learners’ constructions of meanings for fractions—design and effects of a language- and mathematics-integrated intervention

Abstract

Learning situations that concentrate on conceptual understanding are particularly challenging for learners with limited proficiency in the language of instruction. This article presents an intervention on fractions for Grade 7 in which linguistic challenges and conceptual mathematical challenges were treated in an integrated way. The quantitative evaluation in a pre-test post-test control-group design shows high effect sizes for the growth of conceptual understanding of fractions. The qualitative in-depth analysis of the initiated learning processes contributes to understanding the complex interplay between the construction of meaning and activating linguistic means in school and technical registers.

Is Formal Language Proficiency in the Home Language Required to Profit from a Bilingual Teaching Intervention in Mathematics? A Mixed Methods Study on Fostering Multilingual Students’ Conceptual Understanding

“…1), as suggested by Prediger and Wessel (2013) and Prediger, Clarkson, and Bose (2016). Classically, mathematics learning was described as navigating between the graphical, verbal, and symbolic representations (Duval, 2006;Lesh, 1979).…”

“…The instruction design of the intervention, which will be presented in the next section, is a first answer for Q1; it was developed in previous design research cycles (see next section; Kuzu 2014, unpublished;Prediger & Wessel, 2013). In this paper, we provide results from a quantitative video analysis of students' and teachers' use of Turkish during the intervention as empirical evidence for the realizability of late start in bilingual instruction.…”

“…This leads to questions of how and to what degree adolescents who are familiar with Fig. 1 Model of relating different representations and registers for mathematics learning (Reproduced with permission from Prediger et al, 2016;Prediger & Wessel, 2013) monolingual classrooms can be encouraged to activate their home language resources and whether it is possible to overcome initial barriers (Meyer & Prediger, 2011).…”

Subject-Specific Genres and Genre Awareness in Integrated Mathematics and Language Teaching

“…Scholars in the field call for more differentiated views of mathematical texts, discourses and genres. Prediger and Wessel (2013) argue for multiple mathematical registers. Moschkovich (2010) suggests that "mathematical discourse is not a single, monolithic, or homogeneous discourse" (p. 153).…”

Using genre pedagogy to promote student proficiency in the language required for interpreting line graphs

“…It is known that explicit attention to language is supposed to provide students with access to the official discourses of the classroom (Hyland 2004;Morgan 2007) and thus forms the gateway to better educational and societal opportunities for immigrant students but also supports native students (e.g., Adler 2001;Campbell et al 2007;Schleppegrell 2007). Far less is known about how to design and enact language-oriented mathematics education (Mousley and Marks 1991;Prediger and Wessel 2013;Warren and Miller 2013) so more interventionist research in this area is necessary (as observed by Clarkson, 1996, andMoschkovich, 2010). Our approach to language-oriented mathematics education was informed by the Sydney School of genre pedagogy (Martin 1989(Martin , 2009).…”