Investigating Finnish Preservice Teachers' Understandings of Providing Linguistic Support in Mathematics Instruction

• In Event: One Instrument, Four Contexts: International Explorations of Pedagogical Language Knowledge

Abstract

This study focuses on Finnish pre-service primary school teachers’ (n = 87) grammatical knowledge and their understandings on providing linguistic support when teaching mathematics. In Finland, the current core curriculum for basic education (EDUFI, 2014) requires all teachers to provide linguistic support for their students, but at the same time, research has indicated gaps in teachers’ knowledge and skills in this area (Author et al., 2019; Author et al., 2022). In order to support both language and content learning, teachers should have specific knowledge concerning language (Lucas & Villegas, 2013).

The data were gathered with an online survey in the beginning and the end of a course on multilingualism and language learning with a DaZKom test (Carlson et al., 2018) modified for items having to do with the educational contexts and language (Finnish vs. German). For example, in the Finnish study, only future primary school teachers were surveyed, while in the original study, pre-service teachers in all school subjects were surveyed. Some mathematical examples that did not correspond to the Finnish primary school mathematics curriculum were also changed based on Finnish primary school textbook examples. Further, some language issues in German were not relevant in Finnish, so language tasks were adapted to reflect meaningful grammatical issues in Finnish.

The data were analyzed qualitatively (thematic content analysis) and quantitatively (frequencies, Chi square, Cramér V and z tests). A rubric that was created for analyzing the data gathered for the original survey was adapted for the Finnish instrument by all the authors. After the answers were analyzed qualitatively, standardized total scores (max. 4 points) were calculated for the entire questionnaire, as well as for the sub-themes 1) knowledge of language, grammar, and semiotic symbols, and 2) providing linguistic support.

The results indicated that pre-service teachers’ grammatical knowledge and understandings of providing linguistic support for their students varied greatly, and although it slightly developed during the course, especially the clear gaps in students’ grammatical knowledge was somewhat alarming. However, pre-service teachers were able to name various means of linguistic support, although the role of subject specific language and using students’ L1 as a tool for learning were not present in the students’ responses. Some pre-service teachers had high expectations of their students' agency in language awareness without recognizing the needs for linguistic support by the teacher. Thus, there is a need for developing pre-service teachers’ grammatical knowledge in teacher education. Also, future teachers’ abilities to linguistically support multilingual learners should be focused on more in order to provide optimal educational opportunities for all learners and to respond the requirements of Finnish curriculum (EDUFI, 2014). The scholarly significance of this study comes from the finding that the DaZKom-test can be used in different educational contexts which adds possibilities to compare these contexts, though the test must be adapted to country-specific educational policies.

Authors

• Jenni Alisaari, University of Turku
  Presenting Author

• Leena Maria Heikkola, Åbo Akademi University
  Presenting Author

• Raisa Harju-Autti
  Presenting Author