Teachers’ strategies of teaching primary school mathematics in a second language: A case of Botswana

Students’ experiences with mathematics teaching and learning: listening to unheard voices

“…The other major factor affecting the mathematics teaching and learning in Botswana schools is the impact of English as a medium of instruction. In this study, like in others studies in Botswana [46,47], the impact of English language in mathematics teaching and learning was viewed as a barrier particularly in understanding and solving word-problems. Students in this study report that word-problems are exceptionally difficult especially if the problems require translation of verbal information into mathematical equations.…”

Towards an understanding of early childhood mathematics education: A systematic review of the literature focusing on practicing and prospective teachers

“…On the other hand, practicing teachers are still prone to employ teacher-led demonstrations (Gonzales and Paik, 2011; Meijnen et al, 2003) and worksheets (Feza, 2014), which may be due to a lack of resources (Feza, 2014) or years of teaching experience (Meijnen et al, 2003). Moreover, it seemed as if some teachers were still grappling with the transition from a prospective to a practicing teacher (Towers, 2010), from reported self-perceptions to observed practices (Brown, 2005), or from the use of a student’s home language to an official school language (Kasule and Mapolelo, 2005). For example, Towers (2010) described not only a novice teacher’s struggle to enact inquiry-based teaching practices, but also his inability to articulate his understandings of inquiry-based teaching to others, which led to problems around collaboration and administrative evaluations.…”

The Use of English and Code Switching in the Teaching and Learning of Technology in some Schools in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

“…Teachers encouraged learners to use isiXhosa if they experience difficulty when answering in English. Similarly, in a study conducted in schools in Botswana, it was found that code switching to seTswana was inevitable because learners did not understand English, even if the educator tried to explain in English (Kasule & Mapolelo, 2005). Lack of understanding English language appears to be a barrier in performing in key subjects such as mathematics, science and technology, as this was supported by one of the Technology specialist in an interview when saying: "learners language competency affects their performance in all subjects, at all grades poor language competence limits conceptual understanding".…”