The flows and scales of language when doing explanations in (second language) mathematics classrooms
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18 février 2020
- handle: 10670/1.nxub50
- hal: hal-02970546
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
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Language diversity second language learners scale-jumping social stratification mathematics classroomsSujets proches
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Richard Barwell, « The flows and scales of language when doing explanations in (second language) mathematics classrooms », HAL-SHS : sciences de l'éducation, ID : 10670/1.nxub50
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I develop the idea of sources of meaning by proposing the notions of scale and flow as a way to think about participation in mathematics classroom discourse. Flow emphasizes the dynamic nature of language use, while scale makes apparent its stratified and stratifying nature. Drawing on an ethnographic study of four second language mathematics classrooms in Canada, I examine the flow and scales arising in interaction in one 'language positive' classroom: a group of recently arrived immigrants to the province of Quebec. The analysis focuses on examples of the construction of mathematical explanations to illustrate the role of scale-jumping in the construction and stratification of mathematical meaning.