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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Language and content in language arts and math : a case study Evans, Peter D.
Abstract
This thesis is a qualitative case study of a mathematics unit and a literature unit taught concurrently to a class of grades five and six students, the majority of who were English as a Second Language (ESL) students. The units were collaboratively planned with an ESL Resource Teacher. The study aims to illuminate the processes and products of student engagement with the two units. At the same time, it documents the teacher/ researcher's process of reflection. The study makes reference to the teacher/researcher's growing understanding of the role that prior knowledge plays in the classroom. For the teacher/ researcher, this study acted as a "voyage of discovery" as he made observations regarding the student's experiences and the role of prior knowledge. Students experienced considerable success with the literature unit, but had persistent difficulties with the mathematics unit. To investigate the reasons for this difference, concerning this difference in success, the researcher explored two matters of prior knowledge: prior classroom experience and the link between everyday language and technical language in student discourse. With respect to prior classroom experience, the students reported little prior teaching of relevant mathematical material whereas the literature material had regularly been taught. With respect to the link between everyday and technical language, the findings suggested that the students were able to draw on everyday language for describing persons in the literature unit, but were not able to draw on everyday language for describing patterns in the mathematics unit. More broadly, this suggests that students were able to draw on familiar social practices for describing persons but not for describing mathematical patterns. Implications are drawn for further research and for educational practice.
Item Metadata
Title |
Language and content in language arts and math : a case study
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2000
|
Description |
This thesis is a qualitative case study of a mathematics unit and a literature unit taught
concurrently to a class of grades five and six students, the majority of who were English as a
Second Language (ESL) students. The units were collaboratively planned with an ESL
Resource Teacher. The study aims to illuminate the processes and products of student
engagement with the two units. At the same time, it documents the teacher/ researcher's
process of reflection. The study makes reference to the teacher/researcher's growing
understanding of the role that prior knowledge plays in the classroom. For the teacher/
researcher, this study acted as a "voyage of discovery" as he made observations regarding the
student's experiences and the role of prior knowledge. Students experienced considerable
success with the literature unit, but had persistent difficulties with the mathematics unit. To
investigate the reasons for this difference, concerning this difference in success, the
researcher explored two matters of prior knowledge: prior classroom experience and the link
between everyday language and technical language in student discourse. With respect to
prior classroom experience, the students reported little prior teaching of relevant
mathematical material whereas the literature material had regularly been taught. With respect
to the link between everyday and technical language, the findings suggested that the students
were able to draw on everyday language for describing persons in the literature unit, but were
not able to draw on everyday language for describing patterns in the mathematics unit. More
broadly, this suggests that students were able to draw on familiar social practices for
describing persons but not for describing mathematical patterns. Implications are drawn for
further research and for educational practice.
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Extent |
8726980 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-07-10
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0078178
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2000-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.