Widening the lens — changing the focus: Researching and describing language practices in multilingual classrooms in South Africa

Abstract

One of the defining features of the current South African context is the breath-taking extent and pace of social, political and economic transformation desired by the country in this early post apartheid period. Rapid change produces both extreme and often contradictory conditions that in turn throw a spotlight onto complex social practices. What might otherwise remain hidden or taken for granted in ‘normalised’ day to day practices elsewhere can be seen in a new light and in new ways. Teaching and learning mathematics — curriculum in use — in multilingual settings is one such practice under the spotlight in post apartheid South Africa. The South African context offers the field a dynamic site for exploring classroom communication. This lecture draws on two research studies of languages practices in multilingual mathematics classrooms in South Africa.