By Jenny Stacey - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

ByJenny Staceystaceyj1@chesterfield.ac.ukWebsite: www.esolmaths.co.uk2015

Does adding maths to ESOL learners timetables improve their acquisition of English?Slide2

Research overviewFive years data analysis from 2008 to 2013 - ESOL maths learners’ ESOL results compared with those who did not opt for ESOL Maths classes.Observations by four teachers, two from inside the college, two from outside – can they see language teaching in a maths class? How are the students responding? Is it what they expected to see?

Caution: Small sample sizes, not statistically significant; I need to do a bigger study!Slide3

Setting the scene……Optional courses for adult ESOL learners from many countries , and Entry 1 to Level 7 maths skills in first language. Between 11 and 18% of ESOL learners chose to do ESOL Maths: m

ay be maths confident; may have high motivation levels?

Classroom

philosophy: Value learners’ methods, encourage use of L1, differentiate by support and/or outcome, explore

differences

in mathematical symbols and language.Slide4

Quantitative study – Achievements ComparisonSlide5

Quantitative study –Impact on CohortsSlide6

Qualitative study – Teachers’ ObservationsThree questions:Can these teachers see any advantages of ESOL Maths, where the language is less overtly taught than in an ESOL class?

Do the students exhibit skills they were unaware of, or that surprise them for the level those students are at in their English?

Does it make the teachers reassess the learners’ language skills levels?Slide7

IssuesIntention:30 minute observation followed by 20 min discussion, questions given as a prompt for observation-worked

in

trial. Actual: teachers had little time for discussion, wrote responses on the question sheet, only slightly amplified in interview.

Intention: start in week 6, after classes have settled in with 2 internal and 2 external observers. Actual: started in week 14,

t

eachers busy, ignored e-mails, could/would not travel; one external became one Maths teacher.

Intention: learners and I would quickly ignore observer. Actual: Hawthorne effect very marked, more with ESOL teachers than with unknowns, and with low confidence ESOL students? Peer observation impact.Slide8

Language content observedAll teachers noted the amount of language teaching taking place in the observed sessions, includingThe quantity of language used in a maths class

Opportunities for “reinforcing pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary”

“Extremely useful” for language acquisition

Very different from what was remembered of their own maths experience

There was “a lot more to it than anticipated”Slide9

Observations on the learnersSeemed more confident, relaxed, and showed far higher levels of voluntary participation than had been seen in ESOL, with good interaction with resources and activities:

“clearly felt more confident”

“more able to answer questions”

“the focus was on maths, not English”

“’A’ does not speak in ESOL, but spoke here”

“’B’ really tries and has a go (at answering questions), not seen that in an ESOL class”

On paired work: “’C’ would not do that in ESOL”, and this “fostered greater communication in English”

High level Maths students clearly “found the experience useful” and “relevant”Slide10

Language performance observationsThe level and standard of language used was a surprise to all observers, whether they knew the learners or not, especially those whose English was clearly at a lower level from most of the group who, though “weaker in language, are able to do better”.

“Good level of English used by the students”

“The vocabulary was very fluid”

“ A good level of maths” “A good level of English”

Teachers did not want to reassess level set for ESOL, but more confident of achievement; recognised that it could be easier to assimilate new words if the topic is familiar- shift to more topic based lessons; Citizenship course had similar effect?

Three questions (slide 6): yes, yes

and no!Slide11

Impact on my teachingThis has crystallised the importance of language in maths acquisition. For all learners I have moved to a triad approach: conceptual understanding, procedural competence, language acquisition.

I am trying to watch

for

Implicit assumptions –interpretation

of maths questions is not

intuitive.

I

t

is hard to imagine how

baffling maths can

be for some

learners:

‘Calculate the area of a circle with a diameter of 10 cm’

or ‘Factorise 2a + 6’ look straight forward…

People who are

maths

anxious or maths

phobic –if forced to do maths they may drop out which will impact on

retention and

success

rates and can be devastating for students. Gap in research.Slide12

Selection of referencesAdler, J; Teaching Mathematics in Multilingual Classrooms, 2001, Mathematics Education Library, Kluwer

Barwell

, Richard; Multilingualism in Mathematics Classrooms: A Global Perspective, 2009, Multilingual Matters,

Bristol

Brown, T; Mathematics Education and Language. Interpreting Hermeneutics and Post-

Structualism

, 2001, Mathematics Education Library, Kluwer

FitzSimons

, Gail E; What Counts as Mathematics? Technologies of Power in Adult and Vocational Education, 2002, Mathematics Education Library,

Kluwer

Kersaint

,

Gladis

et al, ‘Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners’, 2013, Routledge, 2

nd

Edition 2014.

Newmarch

, Barbara; Developing Numeracy, Supporting Achievement, 2005, NIACE,

Leicester

Stacey, J.M.; Does adding Maths to ESOL learners’ timetables improve their acquisition of English?, 2014, MA Dissertation, SHU; available on www.esolmaths.co.uk