ABSTRACT

Mathematics is not just memorized facts, but rather it is understanding how to approach and solve problems, and problem-solving requires linguistic proficiency. Too often, English learners’ (ELs) relatively low math performance is dismissed due to their supposed “limited” English proficiency. Taking this perspective, a constructivist approach suggests that content-area discussions should improve EL students’ math performance. To test this hypothesis, we use nationally representative data from the Educational Longitudinal Study: 2002 to examine the relationship between students’ reported participation in math discussions and their 10th-grade math performance (GPA), considering both course placement and linguistic status. While we find reported participation in student-led discussion to be positively associated with math performance for all students, we also find that EL students report higher participation in student-led discussions only in low-level math placement. This pattern suggests that for EL students, participation in student-led discussion may actually be necessary to counteract the limiting nature of low-track placement. We argue that although EL students appear to benefit from student-led discussions in these contexts, until school systems begin to address the overrepresentation of EL students in low-level coursework, instructional experiences alone will do little to improve their overall achievement.

 抽象的

数学不仅仅是记忆事实，而是理解如何处理和解决问题，而解决问题需要语言能力。很多时候，英语学习者 (EL) 相对较低的数学成绩会因为所谓的“有限”英语水平而被忽视。从这个角度来看，建构主义方法表明内容领域的讨论应该提高 EL 学生的数学成绩。为了检验这一假设，我们使用2002 年教育纵向研究中具有全国代表性的数据来​​检验学生报告的数学讨论参与情况与其 10 年级数学成绩 (GPA) 之间的关系，同时考虑课程安排和语言状况。虽然我们发现参与学生主导的讨论与所有学生的数学成绩呈正相关，但我们也发现 EL 学生仅在低水平数学分班中报告较高的参与学生主导的讨论。这种模式表明，对于 EL 学生来说，参与学生主导的讨论实际上可能是抵消低轨安置的限制性所必需的。我们认为，尽管 EL 学生似乎从这些背景下学生主导的讨论中受益，但在学校系统开始解决 EL 学生在低水平课程作业中所占比例过高的问题之前，仅凭教学经验对提高他们的整体成绩几乎无济于事。