Analyzing the Mathematics Curriculum in a Two-Way Chinese-English DLBE Program: A Raciolinguistic Perspective

• In Event: Asian American Racialization: Critical Perspectives on Mandarin-English Bilingual Education

Abstract

Purposes
My objective is to demonstrate the negative impact of raciolinguistic ideologies on the DLBE Mathematics curriculum and propose implications for transforming DLBE programs to genuinely respect minority students’ linguistic and cultural assets while challenging English hegemony in the United States.

Theoretical Framework
Rosa and Flores (2017) discussed how raciolinguistic ideologies have transformed in the post-colonial era, highlighting the strategic use of indigenous languages by Christian missionaries and colonial representatives to impose Eurocentric views on indigenous communities (Makoni & Pennycook, 2007). Applying a raciolinguistic perspective to analyze the DLBE program, I observed the presence of raciolinguistic ideologies embedded in the curriculum and assessments, following similar patterns as those described by Rosa and Flores.

Methods
I used a combined methodology of ethnography (Creswell & Poth, 2024) and classroom discourse analysis (Rymes, 2016). Participant observation, ethnographic fieldnotes, audio recordings of classroom activities, interviews, and document/artifact collection all served as sources for my year-long data collection.

Results
First, the DLBE program provides math textbooks in both English and Chinese, but the Chinese version is rarely used because: 1) students struggle with the direct translation, which includes many unfamiliar and inaccurate words without Pinyin, the phonetic tool for decoding Chinese characters; and 2) the content with heavy US cultural references is challenging for Chinese-dominant students.

Second, Chinese teachers overuse English in math classes due to: 1) the mismatch between students’ Chinese proficiency and the curriculum's expectation for detailed written explanations of procedures; 2) pressure from co-teaching with English teachers and English-only State tests; 3) the lack of other supporting materials in Chinese, such as the computer program that accompany the mathematics textbook.

In summary, despite the intention to teach math equally in both languages, the poorly translated Chinese textbooks that disregard students’ Chinese language proficiency and cultural assets, the lack of other supporting materials in Chinese, and the dominance of English in State tests lead to excessive English use in math instruction. I argue that despite the great efforts in implementing DLBE programs to counter monolingual US schooling (García et al., 2018), the minority language is used to impose an English- and US-centric perspective on minority students, whereas English is used as a vehicle for more contemporary knowledge such as Science and Mathematics (Rosa & Flores, 2017).

Scholarly Significance
While most critical research on Chinese-English DLBE focuses on programs serving white, English-speaking children (e.g., Sun et al., 2023; Zheng, 2020), my study examines an all-minority student program in New York City. By doing so, my research brings the voices of bi-/multilingual learners to the forefront and seeks to "remedy" and "repair" the subtle inequalities and marginalization within the program. Additionally, this is one of the first studies to explore the impact of raciolinguistic ideologies on the curriculum and assessment of a Chinese-English DLBE program, contributing to a holistic understanding of the multifaceted challenges involved in implementing Chinese-English DLBE programs for bi-/multilingual learners.

Author

• Peizhu Liu, University of Pennsylvania