Chapter 2: Writing in Support of Mathematical Understanding for Emergent Bilingual Learners
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Published:2024
Marco A. Bravo, Maria Valencia-Orozco, 2025. "Writing in Support of Mathematical Understanding for Emergent Bilingual Learners", Mathematics Instruction in Dual Language Classrooms: Theory and Research That Informs Practice, Marco A. Bravo, Kip Téllez
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This chapter examines the possibilities of integrating writing and mathematics for Emergent Bilingual Learners (EBLs). Elementary-grade Spanish/English bilingual students (n = 55) responded to a writing prompt at the onset and end of an academic year that elicited their explanation as to how they solved a mathematical problem. Students could select whether to provide their response in English or Spanish. The responses were subsequently assessed with a rubric, gauging EBLs’ abilities to provide their mathematical reasoning in their explanation, how their mathematical computations leveraged appropriate concepts and procedures, how they utilized mathematical vocabulary, and utilized and included appropriate visual literacy (e.g., number line, graph, illustration). The quantitative analysis (paired t-test) from these data show promise for synergistic effects on both writing and mathematical knowledge when these disciplines are integrated. Study results illuminate the need for additional opportunities for writing to have a role in supporting EBLs’ mathematical learning.
With increasing numbers of Emergent Bilingual Learners (EBLs) across the country, exploring how best to deliver instruction to this population and trace their development has gained considerable importance. EBLs, also referred to as English learners, constitute the fastest growing sector of the school age population (National Center of Educational Statistics, 2023). Children and youth of school age who spoke a language other than English at home represented 10.4% of the total school enrollment (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023), the majority of whom are non-European, non-English speaking, and extremely diverse (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2022). This diversity presents a unique paradox for schools. On the one hand, such diversity bestows a challenge for teachers attempting to accommodate multiple languages and cultures in the classroom. Yet, this same “dilemma” affords all students access to multiple perspectives and diverse approaches to problem-solving in school (Paris, 2012).
In an analysis of effective schools that served large numbers of young bilinguals, Garcia (1999) found of utmost importance high expectations, including but not limited to bilingualism and biliteracy goals, as is offered by dual language programs, along with on-going effective staff development. Successful schools implemented: (a) maintenance bilingual program, accomplishing mature English literacy through primary language instruction; (b.) demanding grade level content instruction instead of a watered-down version of the curriculum; (c) instruction organized in innovative ways, where instructional strategies scaffold student learning (e.g., specially designed academic instruction in English-SDAIE, sheltered English); (d) instructional programs which extended instructional time (e.g., after-school programs, voluntary Saturday, summer programs); and (e) parent outreach. These findings have been echoed by others (Basterra, 1998; Baur & Gort, 2012; Cummins, 2000; Valdés, 2005).
Garcia termed these collective practices a responsive pedagogy which also encompass practical, contextual, and empirical knowledge and a “world view” of education that evolves through meaningful interactions among teachers, students, and other school community members. These strategies expand students’ knowledge beyond their own immediate experiences while using those experiences as a sound foundation for appropriating new knowledge. This chapter details one project’s attempt to illustrate the responsive pedagogies implemented by beginning teachers as they integrated writing into their mathematics curriculum in dual language settings.
