Tensions in Teaching Mathematics in Contexts of Language Diversity

• Published in: Mathematics Education and Language Diversity pp. 175 - 192
• Main Authors: Barwell, Richard, Chapsam, Lim, Nkambule, Thulisile, Phakeng, Mamokgethi Setati
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2015; Springer International Publishing
• Series: New ICMI Study Series
• Subjects: Centrifugal Force; Immigrant Student; Language Policy; Mathematics Classroom; Mathematics Teacher; Teaching of a specific subject; Teaching skills & techniques
• ISBN: 331914510X; 9783319145105
• ISSN: 1387-6872; 2215-1745
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-14511-2_10

Throughout the literature on mathematics teaching in multilingual, bilingual or second language classrooms and other contexts of language diversity, there has been a shift from thinking in terms of deficits and barriers to a discourse of dilemmas and tensions. While this work has highlighted the complexity of multilingual mathematics classrooms, it has so far been largely descriptive in nature. This chapter draws on a theoretical perspective based on Bakhtin (The dialogic imagination: Four essays, Austin, TX) that explains how these tensions arise. We develop these ideas through four cases, through which we examine the relationship between different language-related tensions and the classroom contexts in which they arise, focusing particularly on the teacher’s role in mediating these tensions in classroom practice.