Number Talks and Multilingual Learners: A Mathematics-Language Partnership Advancing Equity

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Studies Focused on Supporting Multilingual Mathematics Learners (Table 6)

Abstract

The Number Talk routine (Humphreys & Parker, 2015) is consistent with recommendations for meeting the mathematics learning needs of multilingual (ML) students (Chval et al., 2021; Erath et al., 2021; NCTM, 2022; WIDA, 2020), with communication-oriented reform movements (Fuson & Leinwand, 2023), and recommendations for developing procedural fluency (NCTM, 2023). This design research (Prediger et al., 2015) study sought to investigate the intersection of learning language and learning mathematics via the Number Talk routine. A team of teacher-researchers enhanced the routine to bring its design principles and teaching moves into alignment for inviting ML voices into whole-class discussions. The presence of ambiguous communication (Barwell, 2005) and the attendant need for negotiating meaning (Bakhtin, 1986) surfaced as key themes.

Authors

• Jana Dean, Mathematics Education Collaborative

• Heather Byington, Washington State University