Promoting statistical thinking in year 12 multilingual classrooms: a collaborative study

Abstract

There are challenges making connections between language use and mathematics in mathematics education. A lack of connections between the two domains can have negative consequences on student learning and performance. The challenges in statistics classrooms, where language and contexts are important as a medium of instruction, have received little scrutiny. This article reports on collaborative research carried out in three largely Pasifika-dominated year 12 classes. Specifically, we explored the language resources and strategies that appear to enhance the statistical understanding of Pasifika students. Findings from the teacher reflection aspect of the study indicated that some strategies to incorporate student language and communicative resources in their learning worked better than others. Teachers may need to re-evaluate their teaching practices, especially if part of their population is learning English as a second language.