Abstract
This paper presents an exploratory case study that investigates multilingual students' solution strategies for linear programming problems at a technical vocational education and training (TVET) college in Gauteng. South Africa, like many developing nations, uses English as the language of instruction in technical vocational education and training in TVET colleges, despite the fact that many students lack the essential fluency to interact effectively with the curriculum. Where TVET lecturers and students speak the same home language, there is a disconnect between language policy and codeswitching, which is a frequent approach for achieving pedagogical goals. However, lecturers' training in multilingual realms in the classroom has frequently been framed in terms of linguistic issues, with a limited understanding of code-switching. The ability to combine two languages in the classroom in a systematic manner to promote learning has not been widely appreciated. Furthermore, codeswitching discourses are frequently veiled, with lecturers bringing the vernacular into the classroom. The authors of this study advocate for the discontinuity framework, which claims that in order to learn mathematics, pupils must first acquire the essential language. A purposive sample of 18 National Certificate (Vocational) Level 3 bilingual students was given the linear programming challenge. Data were gathered through a test and semi-structured interviews. The inductive content analysis, which was used for collection and analysis, revealed that students were unable to complete the linear programming task successfully because to a lack of relevant linear programming vocabulary (register) caused by language barriers. We thus recommend that lecturers use the mathematics register in their discussions with students about mathematics to demonstrate the complex and precise ways of expressing mathematical ideas; for example, lectures may re-voice their students' language representations so that these expressions more closely approximate the precision of the mathematics register.
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