Multilingualism in Mathematics Education in Africa

This book presents research on the teaching and learning of mathematics in multilingual settings from across multiple countries in Africa, including Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. One of the distinguishing factors of the African continent lies in the fact that it has one of the highest linguistic diversities in the world, so multilingual classrooms are a norm rather than an exception. But beyond the issue of multilingualism in African classrooms is the fact that the language of instruction is rarely the first or home language for a majority of students who learn mathematics. The chapters explore language policies and their implementation in mathematics education; curriculum development and pedagogy issues; support and development of mathematical practices for teachers; language issues in teaching with mathematics register in indigenous languages and directions for future research.