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Theoretical frameworks for designing and analyzing language-responsive mathematics teaching–learning arrangements

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Abstract

Practical instructional approaches are often criticized for focusing too exclusively on vocabulary work whereas research has revealed rich insights into the role of language on the discursive level. On the other hand, the mathematics education research community focusing on language has not yet filled the gap between research and classroom practices. In this paper, we present the theoretical frameworks which have grounded our attempts to fill this gap through topic-specific design research on fostering the competence of language learners. The frameworks are used for comparing two teaching–learning arrangements based on a macro-scaffolding and a relating registers approach, one focusing on discursive activation, the second with additional, integrated lexical support. The paper shows how the theoretical frameworks become visible in the design of the intended curriculum and the realized curriculum shaped by teachers’ micro-scaffolding moves.

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Acknowledgements

The research project MuM-MESUT (Developing conceptual understanding by language support: Differential effects of language- and content-integrated approaches) has been funded by the German Research Foundation 2015–2017 (DFG-Grant PR 662/14-1 to Susanne Prediger). The authors conducted this research together with Susanne Prediger. We thank her for the collaboration.

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  1. University of Education Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Lena Wessel

  2. TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany

    Kirstin Erath

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  1. Lena Wessel
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  2. Kirstin Erath
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Correspondence to Lena Wessel or Kirstin Erath.

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Wessel, L., Erath, K. Theoretical frameworks for designing and analyzing language-responsive mathematics teaching–learning arrangements. ZDM Mathematics Education 50, 1053–1064 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-018-0980-y

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