The Language Issue In The Teaching Of Mathematics In South Africa

The book is the result of a five-year project that culminated (within the first three years) in doctoral research interrogating language competency for meaningful mathematics instruction at upper primary level conducted at University of Stellenbosch in 2017; and this book in the succeeding two years. The initial research project received countrywide coverage in several South African media outlets including Times Live and Radio 2000.

This book brings together the first book collection of African research in mathematics education in multilingual societies and chronicles current research in different linguistic contexts across the African continent, (including Algeria, Namibia, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa) on issues of multilingualism in mathematics education, but more importantly, it foregrounds pertinent issues for future research. With many of the authors building on earlier path-breaking African research, the book is a unique contribution of careful thinking through how linguistic diversity and multilingualism manifest in ways that differ from one geopolitical context to another. This volume is an important contribution to the growing recognition of multilingualism as the global 'linguistic dispensation' in mathematics education. It is an invitation to how we might (as an international community where more and more multilingualism is the norm rather than an exception) pay more attention to the multilingual agency and capabilities of both students and teachers in order to better harness the epistemic potential of multiple languages in contexts of language diversity in mathematics education.

The author captures three inter-related dilemmas that lie at the heart of teaching mathematics in multilingual classrooms: code-switching, mediation, and transparency. She provides a sharp analysis and strong theoretical grounding, pulling together research related to the relationship between language and mathematics, communicating mathematics, and mathematics in bi-/multilingual settings and offers a direct challenge to dominant research on communication in mathematics classrooms.

This volume is dedicated to the career of Jill Adler and the role she has played in growing mathematics education research in South Africa, Africa and beyond. Her work epitomises what is referred to as the ‘engaged scholar’: i.e. doing rigorous and theoretically rich research at the cutting edge of international work in the field which at the same time contributes to critical areas of local and regional need in education. Jill is one of the world’s leading experts in mathematics education research and her exemplary career is a continuous source of inspiration for generations of researchers and students. The chapters in this volume are authored by Jill’s former PhD students, a few select colleagues from different parts of the world that she collaborated with as well as leading scholars who she worked with in PME, ICMI and in her many international assignments. In essence, this volume celebrates Jill’s contribution not only to mathematics education but also to our contributions as her friends and colleagues. Topics covered include language and mathematics, teacher education, and the dilemma of an activist researcher engaging in issues that matter hugely to the participants in the research, students and teachers in post-apartheid schooling, whilst also setting up the separation that is needed for good research.

Contemporary concerns in mathematics education recognize that in the increasingly technological and globalized world, with concomitant change in population demographics (e.g. immigration, urbanization) and a change in the status of languages (e.g. English as a dominant language of science and technology) multilingualism in classrooms is a norm rather than an exception. Shifts in perspective also view language not simply as an instrument for cognition with all learners equipped with this instrument in service of learning, although clearly in the classroom that remains of importance. Rather, it is now also being acknowledged that language use is inherently political, so that the language that gets official recognition in the classroom is invariably the language of the powerful elite, or the dominant societal language, or in the case of post-colonial contexts the language of the colonisers. From this socio-political role of language in learning quite different issues arise for teaching, learning and curriculum for linguistically marginalized learners than that of cognition (e.g. immigrants, second language learners, other). Policies on language in education are being considered and re-considered with specific reference to mathematics teaching and learning. Given the policy environment, globally the proposed publication is timely. This edited collection draws on recent, emerging insights and understandings about the approaches to improving policy and practice in mathematics education and mathematics teacher education in multilingual settings. It presents, and discusses critically, examples of work from a range of contexts and uses these examples to draw out key issues for research in education in language diverse settings including teaching, learning, curriculum and fit these with appropriate policy and equity approaches. With contributions from all over the world, especially novice researchers in low income countries, this book is a valuable resource for courses in Mathematics Education and related social sciences both at the graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as for students of international development.

Reflecting on the theoretical and ideological work that has contributed to the growth of mathematics education research in South Africa, this study provides a historical analysis of forces that have changed and shaped mathematics curricula over the years. The themes researched and explored include radical pedagogy, progressive classroom practices, ethnomathematics, and South African mathematics education research within both its local and international contexts.

*THIS BOOK WILL SOON BECOME AVAILABLE AS OPEN ACCESS BOOK* This book examines multiple facets of language diversity and mathematics education. It features renowned authors from around the world and explores the learning and teaching of mathematics in contexts that include multilingual classrooms, indigenous education, teacher education, blind and deaf learners, new media and tertiary education. Each chapter draws on research from two or more countries to illustrate important research findings, theoretical developments and practical strategies. This open access book examines multiple facets of language diversity

This book brings together the first book collection of African research in mathematics education in multilingual societies andchronicles current research in different linguistic contexts across the African continent, (including Algeria, Namibia, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa) on issues of multilingualism in mathematics education, but more importantly, it foregrounds pertinent issues for future research. With many of the authors building on earlier path-breaking African research, the book is a unique contribution of careful thinking through how linguistic diversity and multilingualism manifest in ways that differ from one geopolitical context to another. This volume is an important contribution to the growing recognition of multilingualism as the global 'linguistic dispensation' in mathematics education. It is an invitation to how we might (as an international community where more and more multilingualism is the norm rather than an exception) pay more attention to the multilingual agency and capabilities of both students and teachers in order to better harness the epistemic potential of multiple languages in contexts of language diversity in mathematics education.