Multiple Monolingualism Versus Multilingualism? Early Grade Mathematics Teachers’ and Students’ Language Use in Multilingual Classes in South Africa

Abstract

The language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in schools, and more specifically, the language used in the teaching of mathematics, is the focus of academic and public debate because language is political. Constrained by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement’s (CAPS) interpretation of the Language in Education Policy (LiEP), the South African school system can be seen as a system of multiple monolingualism rather than a truly multilingual system. It can be argued that this is the general trend in developing countries previously controlled by colonial powers. In South Africa, there has been a dearth of research studies undertaken in early grade mathematics classes to investigate language use in these classes and whether it aligns with the languages spoken by the teachers and students present in those classes. The research reported in this chapter investigated language use in early grade mathematics classes. Data collection was in three parts and involved a survey of the language background and perceptions about language use in mathematics teaching, worked solutions of number patterns questions, and a translation activity on number patterns. This was carried out in Grade 3 and Grade 4 classes (two of each) in a sample of 20 schools in three districts in a Province in South Africa (with LoLT IsiZulu, Setswana and English). Altogether 62 teachers and 2891 students (with 13 student home languages and 7 teacher home languages) participated in the study. Through our findings, we shed light on ways in which the interpretation of the curriculum language policy (which embodies a monoglossic language ideology) influences language use in South African schools and to what extent this policy determination in its current form promotes the multilingual education system envisaged by the policy.