PNA: Revista de Investigación en Didáctica de la Matemática (Sep 2016)

Investigating stratification, language diversity and mathematics classroom interaction

  • Richard Barwell

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 34 – 52

Abstract

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Research on the socio-political dimensions of language diversity in mathematics classrooms is under-theorised and largely focuses on language choice. These dimensions are, however, likely to influence mathematics classroom interaction in many other ways than participants’ choice of language. To investigate these influences, I propose that the notions ofheteroglossia, orders of indexicality and scale-jumping, can provide new theoretical tools with which to understand the links between classroom interaction and broader social patterns of marginalisation. To illustrate the utility of these ideas, I include some analysis of an episode observed in a sheltered elementary school second language mathematics classroom in Canada.

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