Symbols and rules conveying mathematical ideas are often said to be universal. According to this perspective, one could extrapolate that the success rate of native and non-native students in the same mathematics class would be similar. But it turns out that is not the case. In fact, studies suggest that not only linguistic skills are essential to acquire arithmetic skills (LeFevre J., 2010; Purpura D.J.,2014) but also that, as the mathematical ideas become more complex, the more their understanding depends on linguistic skills (Lager C. A., 2004).

Thus, the complexity of teaching a class with students with different native languages is similar to the one teachers from other subjects face.

This complexity does not reduce to distinguishing two different groups in the classroom. First, we have to acknowledge that each individual comes from a particular context (social, cultural, economical…) that influences dimensions that directly affect learning, such as motivation (Kalantzis M. & Cope B., 2012). Secondly, we need to bear in mind that, even if all students in a class have the same age, they don´t develop cognitively at the same pace.

Focusing now, specifically, on the language differences, the first big barrier to learning academic contents is the fact that non-native speakers have to learn the new language at three different levels: 1st: the colloquial language; 2nd: the general academic language and 3rd: the more specific technical language used to define concepts in mathematics. The first two levels are more easily acquired by native speakers. They have to focus more on learning technical language, while non-native students are asked to learn all three levels at once.

Kalantzis and Cope (2012) make reference to some strategies that minimize the effort non-native speakers have to do to learn a general subject: having access to bilingual classes (to all students or using individual support given by a teacher); having both regular classes and classes in their native language, separately, and finally, using a multimodal approach in the classroom, combining gestural, visual, oral, written and tactile approaches to teach a determined item.

References:

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139196581

Lager, C. A. (2004). Unlocking the language of mathematics to ensure our English learners acquire algebra. No. PB-006-1004. Los Angeles: University of California

LeFevre J. A., Fast L., Skwarchuk S. L., Smith-Chant B. L., Bisanz J., Kamawar D., et al. (2010). Pathways to mathematics: longitudinal predictors of performance. Child Dev. 811753–1767. 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01508.x

Purpura D. J., Ganley C. M. (2014). Working memory and language: skill-specific or domain-general relations to mathematics? J. Exp. Child Psychol. 122 104–121. 10.1016/j.jecp.2013.12.009