Learning mathematics in a Turkish-English bilingual after school club

This thesis presents an investigation of a bilingual Turkish/English after school club in a UK secondary school. It investigates and analyses bilingual/multilingual students’ naturally occurring language use during classroom activities and explores students’ strategies while tackling mathematical tasks. It examines how learners construct a collaborative bilingual learning environment and form a community of practice. The study is set in a large mixed comprehensive school in North London where approximately 30% of students are from Turkish speaking backgrounds. Turkish speakers form one of the four largest cthno-linguistic groups in England. The following major strategies emerged from my analysis: translanguaging, activating prior knowledge, employing play frames and learning in a social context. I discovered that translanguaging allowed students to access their own cultural and linguistic repertoire. They worked through mathematical tasks by activating prior knowledge, often using playful language. Through collaborative learning in a social context, they formed a bilingual community of practice. As a result of employing these strategies, mathematical understanding was enhanced, students performed better with improved self-confidence and mathematical problem solving was aided.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

London Metropolitan University

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Ürkmez, Ayşe Serpil

• 300 Social sciences
• 370 Education
• 410 Linguistics

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

N/A

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.londonmet.ac.uk:8263