Using Two Languages When Learning Mathematics By Judit Moschkovich
In this article, Moschkovic presents a good explanation of monolinguals and bilinguals in the context of mathematical education and social issues. She explains the point of view of several researchers in terms of bilingual and monolingual definitions. It was very interesting that some researchers believe that if a person can speak, read and write fluently in two languages, she/he is bilingual, however, others believe that the level of fluently in speaking language is not important in bilingualism. Moschkovic points out two important advantages of bilingualism for children; “enhanced ability to selectively attend to information and inhibit misleading cues” and good translation ability. As a mother of two bilingual kids, I am so happy to know the advantages of bilingualism because my kids have faced many difficulties learning two languages at the same time. The problem is that in our home we are speaking mixed English and Persian, so my younger daughter has difficulties learning one specific language. Although she mostly speaks English, she uses many Persian words among her sentences. On the other hand, the structure of English and Persian languages are different, so it takes time for her to fully understand the structure. For instance, we do not use “her” or “him” for pointing to male and female in our language, so my daughter keeps making mistakes. She has to switch from one language to another to express herself.
Another interesting point of this article is, the definition of code mixing and code switching in bilingualism. When I am teaching mathematics most of the time I have to use code mixing to explain a particular subject to those bilingual students who have difficulty in understanding mathematics in English language. In fact, I explain a new topic in Persian but at the same time use all of the mathematical terms in English and if students did not understand a term in English, I will translate it to the Persian. Zentella, (1981) believes that “code switching is not an ad hoc mixture but subject to formal constraints and that for some communities it is precisely the ability to switch that distinguishes fluent bilinguals” and similarly in mathematics education Vald´es-Fallis, (1978) states that code switching is not a reflection of a low level of proficiency in a language or the inability to recall a word”. However, based on my experiences, most of the code mixing and code switching in the mathematic classroom is because of the lack of English language knowledge. This inconsistency highlights that the definition of bilingualism must be considered carefully. As I understand most of the researchers who talked about bilingual, they mean those people who fluently speak two languages, therefore, they put emphasis on the other reasons that cause code switching. For instance, Moschkovic describes several situations in mathematics education that students choose to use their first or second language or use code mixing or code switching. She reveals, it mostly depends on the mathematical aspects of the situation, mathematical topic, being in the classroom or in private session, and the past experiences with mathematics instruction in each language. On the other hand, Moschkovic explains that the pattern of social language speaking of bilingual children is not similar to their mathematical language speaking pattern. In the classroom, bilingual children speak as they are spoken to, however, in society, they speak based on the norm of the society. In this step, I was a little bit confused because those children who have trouble speaking English [but still are considered as bilingual] cannot speak or respond in the class as they are spoken to, they usually cannot understand their teacher, or cannot ask their questions, or answer their teacher’s questions. So, again, I believe, Moschkovic refers to those bilingual students that speak fluently in both languages. Finally, Moschkovic concludes that most bilingual students prefer to switch from one language to another to explain a question or describe a solution. She believes it does not mean these students have deficiency in one language but they just feel comfortable to use their first or second language. Her research shows that most of these students use formal classroom language to talk about the mathematical terms but use their first language in description and explanations.
Now, my questions are: what are your experiences with bilingual students in the classroom, do they use their first language as only a comfort zone for description and explanations or lack of their second language knowledge? To what extent lack of English language knowledge affects their mathematics learning?
As the English classroom grade teacher in a dual track school, I often had grade 7 students coming to me from the French immersion classroom to ask for help in math. They were “sneaking” and I would talk to the French classroom teacher about it. They didn’t ask me for help in any other subject, which made me wonder about difficulty of talking about math.
ReplyDeleteI also have had experience teaching students who have little to no English language and have just arrived in Canada. Interestingly, some of these students are fluent in more than one language other than English. I have found that using group work, focusing on their math in a new language strengths to build confidence, and letting them speak in their first language with other students been helpful for learning mathematics. In the classrooms where I have worked, there have often been multiple students who speak Persian or Tagalog and have worked as translators or, perhaps more accurately, explainers.
I have found that it is difficult to accurately assess English language learners in mathematics in the form of written tests. Conversations and one on one work helps. I have found that students who are advanced in some areas of mathematics can have great difficulty with instructions. This has led me to teach at multiple levels at once.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I have worked with learners who are brand new to English, I find that they are sometimes embarrassed or too shy to speak their home language at school. I have also worked with second-generation immigrant students (I am one) who might be classified as English language learners. I worked with a class who spoke Punjabi at home but watched TV, read and everything else in English. For political/funding reasons there weren't specific English Language teachers for B.C. students when they first entered school and so now, when some receive learning support for math, the teachers I work with say it is hard to know if a language deficit early on was the cause or if it is something else. I think that language definitely affects math learning and teaching.
ReplyDeleteThe Schleppergrell article that I read talked about how one can be bilingual (example was Spanish English) but it does not necessarily mean that they are bilingual in math; this, of course, is true. However, I wonder to what extent different languages have a fluent mathematics language/register and if it is commonly used? As a teacher, I speak conversational Punjabi and can read and write very basic Punjabi; when I took introductory Punjabi as an undergraduate one of the things that I learned was there are specific words like 'washroom' for which Punjabi people would just use the English word even though there is a Punjabi equivalent. Often these words are words or objects (toilet) that were introduced by the English (which were then later translated into Punjabi). I wonder if part of the reason it is so difficult to teach and learn math in a completely different language is because English is seen as the 'dominant' or 'business' language. Perhaps there are specific English words that many languages use and that when using them, the grammar of a home language breaks down? If this is the case, this would certainly affect the learning and teaching of math.