Abstract
In this article, we examine the construction of word meaning by students during collaborative activities in a multicultural classroom at a Dutch primary school. The analysis is based on recordings of student talk in small groups of four or five students during mathematics lessons. Difficulties with specific terms and expressions frequently arose during group work. Students could easily ask each other about the meaning of difficult words as a part of the collaborative activities they were accustomed to. In the groups with both Dutch and minority children, the minority students addressed their Dutch classmates as language experts. Conversations about language difficulties also occurred in the groups with only minority students. The conversations about word meaning revealed four patterns: (1) ignoring a question about the meaning of a word, (2) showing the meaning using gestures, (3) explaining, or (4) discussing word meaning. In none of the cases were the language problems solved by referring to the everyday meaning of the word. Instead, the conversations focussed directly on the specialised meaning which the word had in the context of the mathematics lesson. This means that the children used the mathematical discourse as a mediational tool for constructing a mathematical meaning of the words.
Résumé
Dans cet article, nous examinons la construction de la signification des mots par des élèves pendant des activités de groupe dans une classe multiculturelle d’une école primaire hollandaise. L’analyse se base sur des enregistrements de conversations entre élèves dans des groupes de quatre ou cinq, pendant les leçons de mathématiques. Des difficultés avec des termes spécifiques et des expressions apparaissent fréquemment pendant le travail en groupe. Les élèves pouvaient facilement questionner entre eux la signification des mots difficiles lors des exercices en groupe auxquels ils étaient habitués. Dans les groupes où il y avait des élèves hollandais et des élèves minoritaires ces derniers s’adressaient à leurs camarades hollandais en tant qu’experts du langage. Les groupes composés seulement d’élèves minoritaires parlaient aussi des difficultés de langage. Les conversations sur la signification des mots ont révélé quatre types de réactions: (1) ignorer une question sur le sens d’un mot, (2) montrer le sens avec des gestes, (3) expliquer ou (4) discuter le sens des mots. Dans aucun des cas les problèmes de langage ont été traités en faisant référence au sens quotidien du mot. Au contraire, les conversations étaient centrées directement sur la signification particulière que le mot avait dans le contexte du cours de mathématiques. Cele signifie que les élèves utilisaient le discours mathématique comme outil médiateur pour construire le sens mathématique des mots.
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Elbers, E., de Haan, M. The construction of word meaning in a multicultural classroom. Mediational tools in peer collaboration during mathematics lessons. Eur J Psychol Educ 20, 45–59 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173210
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173210