ABSTRACT

This paper focusses on the process of learning mathematics in primary school from the perspectives of 62 girls aged seven to 11. For many of these Singaporean girls, English is not the dominant home language, but they all learn mathematics in English. Despite the fact that achievement in mathematics is high nationally, girls appear to be less confident than boys. Adopting notions of identity and agency at the intersection of language and gender, the paper explores how the girls oriented themselves and others to the figured world of school mathematics as successful or not through their interaction in focus group interviews. While some were confident in their mastery of the subject, for some others, the discipline, its language, and other artefacts, such as model drawing and assessment, restricted and frustrated them. Girls experienced a sense of security in their own fellowship and appreciated considerate pedagogies, such as space for individual agency and for improvisation and expression of language, through which they could achieve understanding and progress.

摘要

本文从 62 名 7 至 11 岁的女孩的角度关注小学数学学习的过程。对于这些新加坡女孩中的许多人来说，英语不是主要的母语，但她们都用英语学习数学。尽管全国数学成绩很高，但女孩似乎不如男孩自信。本文采用语言和性别交叉点的身份和能动性概念，探讨女孩如何通过焦点小组访谈中的互动，将自己和他人引导到学校数学的想象世界中是否成功。虽然有些人对自己掌握这门学科充满信心，但对于另一些人来说，这门学科、它的语言和其他人工制品，如模型绘制和评估，限制了他们并使他们感到沮丧。