Language Practices in Bilingual Mathematical Classrooms: The Role of Linguistic Diversity

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how Sri Lankan bilingual students in public sector middle schools use their two languages – Sinhalese and English – to support learning of Mathematics in small groups with their counterparts who use Sinhalese only. The sample consisted of randomly selected 45 bilinguals and 45 monolinguals from three public schools in Colombo in Sri Lanka. The average age of the sample was 12 to 14 years. Over a twomonth period, 8 forty-minute lessons from bilingual mathematics classrooms were video-recorded and later transcribed for analysis. In the presentation of findings, three practices in the language usage which emerged are discussed, i.e. (1) using academic vocabulary, (2) invention of new terms, (3) word-for-word translation. In the study, one example was chosen to represent each practice with some of its situated effects. In the discussion, the first two examples contribute to the idea that the students’ experience of language difficulties, whether real or presumed, contributes to creating opportunities that can be beneficial to learning mathematics. The third example, which focuses on learning mathematics in the medium of English points to some contrasting findings. Unlike many other studies found in this field, locally or internationally, which report difficulties and obstacles that arise in learning and teaching due to bilingualism in middle school classrooms, a change of focus via the conceptualization of language in the form of thinking and doing is emphasized in this study especially for learning and teaching mathematics in the context of bilingual classrooms in Sri Lankan public schools.