What Math Tasks Are Good for Emergent Bilinguals? Comparing Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions

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Abstract

This study investigates high school mathematics teachers’ beliefs about effective mathematics tasks for emergent bilinguals (EBs) and compares them with EB students’ preferences. It examines how teachers’ perceptions evolve through professional development focused on co-teaching. The research prioritizes tasks with high cognitive demand, language demand, and rich context. Results reveal that teachers often prioritize tasks with low language demand, while students favor challenging tasks. Post-intervention, teachers showed a significant shift towards valuing cognitively demanding tasks. The findings suggest that teachers should focus more on mathematical challenges and contextual relevance, enhancing both mathematical understanding and language development for EBs.

Authors

• Jasmine Sourwine, Iowa State University

• Jiyeong Joann Yi, Iowa State University

• Shristi Shrestha, Iowa State University