MuM-Multi II
Fostering language in multilingual mathematics classrooms – multilingual strategies of resident and newly arrived emergent bilinguals
Background and aims
This follow-up project aimed to develop instructional approaches for the inclusion of multilingual resources in mathematics classrooms. The target group was expanded in order to capture more typical patterns of language diversity – whereas MuM-Multi concentrated on teaching experiments with German-Turkish speakers, MuM-Multi II further investigated bilingual teaching experiments with newly arrived Arabic speakers from Syria in Germany and Spanish-German-speaking students in Colombia. These three target groups cover different multilingual constellations found in typical linguistically diverse classrooms.
Methods
The research was structured into three working areas:
- (Re-)analysis of performance and background data
- Initiation and investigation of bilingual teaching/learning processes in small groups with shared bilingualism
- Initiation and investigation of multilingual teaching/learning processes in classrooms with non-shared multilingualism
In Working Area A, written tests were administered. In Working Area B, bilingual design experiments were conducted in small groups for newly arrived migrants in Germany (n = 21) and learners of German as a foreign language in Colombia (n = 7). These recorded processes were compared with video data of Turkish speakers in Germany (n = 41) from the first MuM-Multi project. Working Areas A and B provided the explanatory framework for designing instructional approaches for linguistically diverse subject classrooms.
In Working Area C, instructional approaches for whole-class teaching were designed and investigated over four design experiment cycles, in four different classes and teaching units of 5–13 lessons. In this way, the design principles and elements could there-by be iteratively developed and refined.
Findings
A key finding is the immense heterogeneity of learners, both within and across the three groups, in terms of language proficiency, mathematical performance and processes, familiarity with multimodal representations, and use of multilingual resources. Differentiated approaches are therefore necessary in supporting multilingual learners.
The design principle of connecting multiple registers and representations can be enhanced by connecting different languages. In classrooms with non-shared multilingualism, teachers can ask the students to express their ideas in multiple languages and to translate key phrases for the meaning-making process. Comparing phrases in different languages proved to be a fruitful approach to activating multilingual resources for conceptual understanding Multilingual action thus enriches professional knowledge and understanding, not only for receptive but also for productive use.
Overall, in the course of testing multilingual instructional approaches, it could be shown that connections can be made from heterogeneous repertoires, and this is moreover possible in classrooms with non-shared multilingualism.
What does this mean for educational practice?
- For all three bilingual constellations investigated (German-Turkish speakers from Germany, Arabic-speaking immigrants newly arrived in Germany and Spanish-speaking students learning German as a foreign language at a German school in Colombia), multilingual teaching-learning formats are beneficial for subject-related comprehension processes.
- In addition to team teaching and peer teaching, co-teaching with different languages has is a fruitful format in fostering multilingual approaches.
- Aside from group work, multilingual repertories can best be used for learning in phases of consolidation. In addition, multilingual repetition phases may serve as suitable preparation for the introduction of new subject content.
- Design experiments in heterogeneous classrooms show that students who otherwise do not participate in mathematics become discursively active in multilingual groups, also contributing to whole-class progress in German.
Project Publications
Krause, A., Wagner, J., Çelikkol, M., Redder, A. & Prediger, S. (submitted manuscript). New migrants, new challenges? – Activating multi-lingual resources for understanding mathematics: institutional and interactional requirements.
Krause, A., Wagner, J., Uribe, A., Redder, A. & Prediger, S. (in Vorb.). Mehrsprachige Lehr-Lern-Formate – linguistische und mathematikdidaktische Beiträge zur Modellierung in sprachheterogenen Regelklassen.
Prediger, S., Kuzu, T., Schüler-Meyer, A. & Wagner, J. (2019). One mind, two languages – separate conceptualisations? A case study of students’ bilingual modes for dealing with language-related conceptualisations of fractions. In Research in Mathematics Education, 21(2), S. 188 – 207. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2019.1602561
Prediger, S., Uribe, Á. & Kuzu, T. (2019). Mehrsprachigkeit als Ressource im Fachunterricht – Ansätze und Hintergründe aus dem Mathematikunterricht. In Lernende Schule, 86, S. 20 – 24.
Prediger, S., & Uribe, Á. (2021, in press). Exploiting the epistemic role of multilingual resources in superdiverse mathematics classrooms: Design principles and insights into students’ learning processes. In A. Fritz, M. Herzog, & E. Gürsoy (Eds.), Diversity Dimensions in Mathematics and Language Learning: Perspectives on Culture, Education and Multilingualism. Berlin: De Gruyter/Mouton.
Prediger, S. & Redder, A. (2020). Mehrsprachigkeit im Fachunterricht am Beispiel Mathematik. In I. Gogolin, A. Hansen, S. McMonagle & D. Rauch (Hrsg.), Handbuch Mehrsprachigkeit und Bildung (S. 189-194). Wiesbaden: Springer. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-20285-9_27
Prediger, S. (Hrsg.) (2020). Sprachbildender Mathematikunterricht in der Sekundarstufe - ein forschungsbasiertes Praxisbuch. Berlin: Cornelsen. (Link zur Online-Preview)
Redder, A. (2019). Sprachlich-mentale Fachkonzepte als interkulturelle Herausforderung: Zum Beispiel Arabisch und Türkisch relativ zum Deutschen. In Der Deutschunterricht, 71(3), S. 86 – 94.
Redder, A., Çelikkol, M., Krause, A. & Wagner, J. (im Druck). Sprachliches Denken in Bewegung – mathematisches Lernen arabisch- deutsch-türkisch. In C. Hohenstein & A. Hornung (Hrsg.) Sprache und Sprachen in Institutionen und mehrsprachigen Gesellschaften. Münster: Waxmann.
Sprütten, F. & Prediger, S. (2019). Wie hängen die Mathematikleistungen von Neuzugewanderten mit Herkunftsregion und Schulbesuchsdauer zusammen? Ergebnisse eines sprachentlasteten Tests. In Mathematica Didactica, 42(2), S. 147 – 161.
Uribe, Á., & Prediger, S. (2021, in press). Students’ multilingual repertoires-in-use for meaning-making: Contrasting case studies in three multilingual constellations. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior. doi:10.1016/j.jmathb.2020.100820