Towards the development of instructional strategies for teaching algebra in multilingual classrooms in South Africa :|ba study of two cases
Date
2011-06-23
Authors
Mparutsa, Sophie Thandiwe
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Abstract
This study explored instructional strategies that teachers in multilingual mathematics
classrooms use to support the development of mathematical proficiency in algebra. The need
for improvement of mathematics matriculation results in many multilingual schools is a well
accepted concern in South Africa. The research method used was two case studies. In one
case, the teacher shared a home language with all the learners. In the other case, the teacher
did not share a home language with most of the learners. Data collected revealed that the
teachers used language strategies as well as other strategies that would be used in any other
mathematics classroom. These strategies were: Interactive Instruction; Scaffolding; Multiple
Representations; Code-Switching and Language Modes. The data further revealed that the
strategies were not used in isolation but in different combinations as needed, to support the
learners.
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Keywords
Instructional strategies, Interactive Instruction, Multiple Representations, Code-Switching, Language Modes, Scaffolding