Abstract
This paper presents a practical demonstration and presentation observed whilst a pre-service teacher was teaching a mathematics lesson on ‘doubling a number’‘(Ukuphinda kabili)’, ‘to thirty two grade one learners in a primary school in kwaZulu Natal of South Africa. The lesson was presented in Zulu, the learners’ home language in line with the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) which requires all phase one (grade 1-3) learners to be taught mathematics and other subjects except English in their vernacular in South African public schools. The lesson engaged learners in games and interactions involving replicating a given number twice using stones or bottle tops, combining them and then counting and registering their total. The symbolic representations though and the use of equal sign were misleading on the chalkboard. Interviews with the teacher after the lesson revealed that the teacher assigned no particular meaning to the equal sign used in the number sentences. Also the teacher revealed that he was aware that at grade one level the multiplication sign could not be used and did not know how to represent a duplicate of a value without a sign so as to get double the number. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p914
Highlights
Learners need language in order to develop mathematical concepts
This can be justified by the inclusion of the basic concepts of colour, shape, size and others associated with mathematics in the ‘Thinking and Reasoning’ of the Language Learning Area
Numeracy is “... the ability to process, communicate and interpret numerical information in a variety of contexts (Askew, Brown, Rhodes, Williams, & Johnson, 1997:25). This implies that numeracy intersects with number sense, a concept that incorporates both understanding and using mathematics
Summary
Learners need language in order to develop mathematical concepts. Language development is always important in the use of numeracy, mathematical language. The ability to process, communicate and interpret numerical information in a variety of contexts (Askew, Brown, Rhodes, Williams, & Johnson, 1997:25) This implies that numeracy intersects with number sense, a concept that incorporates both understanding and using mathematics. Howden (1989:11) describes number sense as ‘as a good intuition about numbers and their relationships It develops gradually as a result of exploring numbers, visualising them in a variety of contexts, and relating them in ways not limited by traditional algorithms. Very often learners in grade one, are taught to count and to know ‘facts off by heart’ such that they can recite them It is in this grade where a foundation for development of mathematics has to be built. Pictorial and symbol illustrations on the chalkboard only followed the practical part at a later stage respectively
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