This research compares the use of triadic dialogue and translanguaging in two multilingual grade seven classrooms where algebra is taught in a foreign language. Ten lessons in one classroom that involve teaching properties and seven lessons in another classroom that involve teaching conventions were video- and audio-recoded and then transcribed.…

Background: South Africa's "Language-in-Education Policy" (LiEP) provides for bi/multilingual education, but schools are only supported to choose monolingual English language policies from Grade 4 and ignore the learners' home language or languages as resources for learning. Many teachers translanguage orally, using the learners' home…

This article, a case study of a single instance of collaborative translation in the classroom, explores the role of material mediation and embodied activity in the linguistic problem solving work of emergent multilinguals. We describe one teacher's lesson with a small group of Spanish speaking students in her 7th grade ESL classroom. Collaborative…

Teaching and learning mathematics in South Africa (SA) is characterised by serious challenges because the pass rate in Mathematics is always below the expected level. The introduction of the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) ushered in new hope that the situation would improve. However, teachers still encounter challenges when they use…

The choice of which language strategies to use in schools in Africa is the subject of much debate. In the Life Sciences, cultural issues associated with the use of biological terminology add to this debate. In our study, we examined the language choices made by Grade 7 Natural Sciences teachers in South Africa during their teaching of human…

This study examines a Detroit suburb experiencing an unexpected influx of working class African American students. Dilemmas engendered a cultural mismatch between teachers and students. In a controversial climate where students cross the boundary line in search for educational parity, this study examines a seventh-grade English teacher who enacts…