In the article, Using Two Languages When Learning Mathematics, Judit Moschkovich reviews research studies completed outside the mathematics field and applies them to mathematics, analyzing whether the information could be useful.
Interestingly, Moschkovich writes that bilingual students are often slower than monolingual students with the retrieval time for arithmetic facts. However, the difference in calculation time was found to be minimal, between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds. The studies were also not taking in to account conceptual mathematics activities. "The results of these studies present a complex picture and appear in some instances to contradict each other." (Bialystok, 2001, p. 203)
The article goes on to also discuss "code switching", a term often disagreed upon, but generally referring to participants changing from one language to another during their part of a conversation. Sociolinguists have recorded that young bilingual children tend to speak in whatever language the conversation is begun in, whereas older students do not have this tendency as much.
Overall, Moschkovich advises mathematics teachers to consider in their classrooms: what mathematical aspects are there? Is the work or problem conceptual or computational? What are the student's past experiences in each language? It is also important for teachers not to think of a student using code switching as being a deficit, as it is dependent upon context. It can be a helpful tool for the student to further explain their mathematical understanding. Bilingual mathematics learners have cognitive advantages, which could be further researched by focusing on how the bilingual learners communicate mathematically.
Overall, I found this article to be mildly frustrating. It discussed many different studies and attempted to ground them by considering implications for a mathematics classroom, but most of the article called for more research. It outlined many areas where more research is necessary, so it did not come to many conclusions or make many findings. I did find it interesting that there is a difference, albeit small, between the computational abilities of bilinguals compared to monolinguals. It made me more curious as to why there is an impact in that area, as it is not often dependent upon language. I also wondered how I could use this knowledge in my teaching, as usually I do not speak the language that my students would be switching between. The article certainly made me reflect on my teaching and wonder how I could more carefully structure my lessons for all my learners, as I have many bilingual students. I certainly consider their competence with the English language when it comes to word problems, but I could do more when thinking about the required conceptual understanding of each unit as a whole. It did make me wonder: is this research relevant to teachers if the teachers cannot speak the second language of their students?
Moschkovich writes, "mathematical discourse is more than vocabulary" (p. 138). Do you consider a student's bilingualism (or multilingualism) when choosing how to instruct conceptual understandings? Would it matter whether the bilingual person was speaking a minority or majority language in their country of residence?
I had taught a very interesting class of 100% Canadian-Chinese students. In the 1st term, I lectured for 10 minutes in English and answered questions in languages according to the preference of the student. I found it very frustrating to use two languages in the classroom as it naturally muted some students when I spoke a different language. Then I switched the whole instruction to Mandarin in the 2nd term. Some students got trouble at the beginning to ask or answer questions verbally, but they performed as well as other students did on standardized assessment. I haven't read enough research on this topic but I propose that the language choice shouldn't matter much in an inquiry -based learning. I personally wouldn't worry too much to the language choice of instruction. I mean I would strive to minimize force-feeding facts by lecturing, but instead facilitate active hands-on learning which allow students to regulate their progress.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that the outcomes of mathematics learnings can be different whether if it was in mother tongue or not, regardless of students are bilingual or multilingual, (I am curious what “bilingual” exactly means: people who have two mother tongues, one mother tongue and one high proficient language, or two high proficient languages?) thus I am usually sensitive about the students’ mother language. Especially in my country, Japan, there are little students who are bilingual in classroom. However, I have never considered whether if students are bilingual or not, so this finding is interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteAs Nancy mentions, I am also curious how teachers should teach math for bilingual students. Furthermore, what do teachers should do in the classroom where both bilingual students and monolingual students are participating? And if mathematics teacher is bilingual, does it affect students’ learning?