A Nondeficit View for Studying Bilingual Learners Engaging in Mathematical Activities With Touch Screen Technology

• In Event: 68.054 - Perspectives on Equity and Mathematics Education

Abstract

In this paper, I use a non-deficit view to examine how recent advances in touchscreen technology and gestures as a form of communication may serve as access for bilingual learners to engage in mathematical activities and communication meaningfully. The topic of high school calculus was chosen to highlight the potentials of this work to provide access for students from non-dominant communities to “important mathematics” and opportunities to participate in STEM disciplines. By analysing episodes of two bilingual students engaging in a mathematical exploration with touchscreen technology, I show that the use of technology was instrumental for facilitating meaningful discussion of mathematics and that a non-deficit model of learning is essential for identifying learners’ competence in today’s increasingly multilingual classrooms.

Author

• Oi-Lam Ng, Chinese University of Hong Kong