A Study on Teaching-Learning of Mathematics in Trilingual Contexts
摘要
In line with the sociocultural, sociopolitical, and sociolinguistic orientations of mathematics education, this study has employed a mixed methods case study (Creswell and Creswell, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, Sage, 2018) of mathematics instructional practices at four purposely selected schools in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. The aim was to investigate the learning of mathematics in multilingual classroom environments. In these regards, data were gathered via interviews of principals and focus group discussions with teachers and students. We also took field notes. The study showed that Amharic, Afaan Oromo, and Aff-Somali languages are alternatively (and in parallel) used for the didactics of mathematical and other subjects. This is mainly related to the advocacy of learning in the mother tongue. In formal classrooms, there is a practice of “multiple monolingual” instruction, while mixing (switching) of languages is observed in informal settings. Strategies such as awareness, scaffolding, translanguaging, and inferentialism would promote multilingualism; they could provide opportunities for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Mediating the practice of multilanguages is not an easy task. On the other hand, there are scarce teaching aids prepared for and used in the state of multilanguages schools. Yet, exploring the potential advantages of translanguaging may be more relevant to bring meaningful social change. The concern then would be developing a vital platform for introducing multilingualism. However, students who intend to formally learn different languages have to familiarize themselves with many distinct writing scripts or alphabets that are functional in the country.