Abstract
Research into the importance of teachers’ use of verbal language in multilingual classes where teaching and learning is done in a language other than the learners’ first, is crucial. Such research aimed at improving multilingual learners’ access to conceptual understanding of mathematical concepts is becoming increasingly urgent. In this paper, we specifically report on a study that inter alia focused on how three purposively selected South African (Eastern Cape) Grade 11 multilingual mathematics teachers used learners’ first language, through code switching, to evoke visualizations for promoting conceptual understanding during the teaching of geometry and trigonometry. The study found that conceptual understanding was enhanced when teachers spoke in their learners’ first language using mostly everyday familiar words to evoke visualizations of some geometry and trigonometry concepts. Teachers also used isiXhosa terminology, the dominant language of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, to describe some mathematical constructs. A number of instances were noted in which teachers used pictorial illustrations from the learners’ environment when words or phrases were not immediately available to them, to promote conceptual teaching of mathematics. However, none of the strategies used were planned for; they were used spontaneously and on an ad hoc basis. We concluded that in multilingual mathematics classes, teachers should choose their verbal language carefully and purposefully to precisely demonstrate and make visible the intended mathematical ideas. Such use of verbal language is particularly important in situations where teachers cannot bring the actual or physical artefact of the mathematical idea to class. The underpinning theory that framed this paper was situated-sociocultural theory.
Highlights
In South Africa, the importance of using verbal language in multilingual mathematics classes to improve learners’ access to conceptual understanding has been a subject of research and is becoming increasingly urgent
We define multilinguals as those individuals who participate in multiple-language communities (Moschkovich, 2002) and we looked at teachers’ choice of words and visualizations in the learners’ home language when teaching mathematics to English second language learners
Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findel (2001: 120) define conceptual understanding as an integrated and functional grasp of mathematical ideas and argue that “conceptual understanding frequently results in students having less to learn because they can see the deeper similarities between superficially unrelated situations”
Summary
In South Africa, the importance of using verbal language in multilingual mathematics classes to improve learners’ access to conceptual understanding has been a subject of research and is becoming increasingly urgent. Research by Kasmer and Billings (2017) and Kersaint, Thompson and Petkov (2009) has shown that learners whose language is not sufficiently developed to function as the LOLT may benefit positively from teaching and learning that uses other means of communication such as code switching and non-verbal information – i.e. using visualization in this case It is against this backdrop that we view teachers’ incorporation of learners’ first language through code switching as a potential resource available for multilingual teachers and their learners to use to enhance conceptual understanding during the teaching and learning ( visualizing) of mathematics. This study seeks to answer the following questions: How do mathematics teachers use learners’ first language through code switching to evoke visualizations to promote conceptual understanding? What verbal illustrations for promoting conceptual understanding in learners’ second language do teachers use to enhance visualization of mathematical concepts during teaching?
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