Learning actions indicating algebraic thinking in multilingual classrooms
- PDF / 673,083 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 12 Downloads / 178 Views
Learning actions indicating algebraic thinking in multilingual classrooms Helena Eriksson 1,2
& Inger Eriksson
3
Accepted: 27 October 2020/ # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract
This article discusses algebraic thinking regarding positive integers and rational numbers when students, 6 to 9 years old in multilingual classrooms, are engaged in an algebraic learning activity proposed by the El’konin and Davydov curriculum. The main results of this study indicate that young, newly arrived students, through tool-mediated joint reflective actions as suggested in the ED curriculum, succeeded in analysing arithmetical structures of positive integers and rational numbers. When the students participated in this type of learning activity, they were able to reflect on the general structures of numbers established as additive relationships (addition and subtraction) as well as multiplicative relationships (multiplication and division) and mixtures thereof, thus a core foundation of algebraic thinking. The students then used algebraic symbols, line segments, verbal, written, and gesture language to elaborate and construct models related to these relationships. This is in spite of the fact that most of the students were second language learners. Elaborated in common experiences staged in the lessons, the learning models appeared to bridge the lack of common verbal language as the models visualized aspects of the relationships among numbers in a public manner on the whiteboard. These learning actions created rich opportunities for bridging tensions in relation to language demands in the multilingual classroom. Keywords Algebraic thinking . El’konin-Davydov curriculum . Learningactivity . Relationships . Multilingual classrooms
* Helena Eriksson [email protected] * Inger Eriksson [email protected]
1
Department of Education and Learning, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden
2
Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
3
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Eriksson H., Eriksson I.
1 Introduction The overall interest of this article is to exemplify and discuss how learning activity suggested by Davydov (1990) can enhance algebraic thinking through collective tool-mediated reflections in a multilingual classroom in Sweden, as students explore positive integers and rational numbers. When teaching mathematics to the youngest students, everyday language and everyday experiences are often used to illustrate mathematical concepts (Adler, 2019). This type of teaching has proven to be problematic since mathematical concepts are theoretical (i.e., scientific) and therefore not accessible through everyday language or everyday actions (Davydov, 1990). This sort of teaching is especially challenging in multilingual classrooms (Adler, 2019; Campbell, Adams, & Davis, 2007; Hansson, 2012), since the participants—the students and teachers—have different experiences regarding culture, language, and mathematics (Campbell et al., 2007; Norén, 201
Data Loading...
