Enacting multilingual learner core practices: a PST’s approximations of practice of mathematics language routines

Abstract

This study considered a preservice teacher’s (PST’s) attention to multilingual learner core practices within her approximations of practice of mathematics language routines during a secondary mathematics methods course. We used a framework of approximations of practice to understand how a PST enacted and developed an understanding of multilingual learner core practices. To provide a vision for what multilingual learner core practices can look like in nontraditional instructional contexts, we qualitatively analyzed four approximations of practice of mathematics language routines from a single PST during a single semester of a methods course. We share how she navigated the remote teaching context and engaged sample students in all of the multilingual learner core practices despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing an example of what these practices may look like in remote instruction. We also discuss how these multilingual learner core practices interact and complement one another. We consider possible implications, limitations, and future research directions.