Teaching the Concept of Zero in a Malawi Primary School: Illuminating the Language and Resource Challenge

Autor/inn/en	Kazima, Mercy; Jakobsen, Arne; Mwadzaangati, Lisnet; Gobede, Fraser
Titel	Teaching the Concept of Zero in a Malawi Primary School: Illuminating the Language and Resource Challenge
Quelle	In: ZDM: Mathematics Education, 55 (2023) 3, S.627-639 (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Kazima, Mercy)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1863-9690
DOI	10.1007/s11858-023-01473-8
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Mathematical Concepts; Concept Formation; Mathematics Instruction; Teaching Methods; Language Usage; Elementary School Teachers; Course Descriptions; Teaching Guides; Textbooks; English; African Languages; Elementary School Mathematics; Malawi + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Sprachgebrauch; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Kursstrukturplan; Lehrerhandbuch; Textbook; Text book; Schulbuch; Lehrbuch; English language; Englisch; Africa; Language; Languages; Afrika; Sprachen; Afrikanische Sprache; Elementare Mathematik; Schulmathematik
Abstract	In this paper we discuss findings of a study that investigated the resources and language that teachers in Malawi use to teach the concept of zero. In Malawi primary schools, textual resources available to teachers are mainly the curriculum materials in the form of syllabus, teacher guides and learner textbooks. The syllabus and teacher guides are in English while the learner textbooks are in Chichewa as teaching is in Chichewa or other local language in the first 4 years of primary school. We used the Mediating Primary Mathematics framework (Venkat and Askew in Educ Stud Math 97:71-92, 2018) and a qualitative case study of two teachers to explore the resources used, how the teachers interacted with the resources and how they moved between the two languages. Our findings include that the language and resources that the teachers used provided affordances as well as constraints for learning the concept of zero. We identified two types of challenges for the teachers; that of naming and that of representing the concept of zero. We discuss what the Malawi context illuminates about teaching zero in post-colonial multilingual settings. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01