The Alignment between Teachers’ Beliefs and Attitudes towards Translanguaging and their Classroom Practices in Mathematics Multilingual Classrooms in Lebanon

Abstract

Mathematics education in Lebanon is conducted in various multilingual contexts. When mathematics is taught in a second language, translanguaging – the use of the full linguistic resources – has become a matter of concern that teachers are expected to understand and address in multilingual mathematics classrooms. This study investigates intermediate mathematics teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards the functional role of translanguaging and their actual classroom practices in Lebanon. The study follows a mixed research design: qualitative and quantitative. The participants were 54 mathematics teachers at the intermediate level from different private schools in Lebanon. Data were collected using a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. Fifty-four teachers filled the questionnaire, 11 of those teachers were later selected for the interview based on the analysis of the questionnaire, and then 3 of those teachers were selected for classroom observations. Results showed that the 54 teachers were distributed over six different beliefs and attitudes towards the functional role of translanguaging practices in mathematics classrooms. Most teachers do not use Arabic (virtual beliefs) and they do not value it (negative attitudes) (27.8%) and others are flexible in their usage of Arabic (maximal beliefs) as they value it (positive attitudes) (27.8%). The remaining teachers were distributed as follows: maximal beliefs with negative attitudes (18.5%); virtual beliefs with positive attitudes (13%); optimal beliefs with negative attitudes (1.9%); and optimal beliefs with positive attitudes (11%). Results showed that the teachers with virtual beliefs (whether negative or positive attitudes) shared a common understanding regarding the limitations in using home language to teach mathematics. Moreover, they believed that adhering to the school policy regarding the use of English as language of instruction enhanced students’ language acquisition and contributed to their success in the future. Further analysis showed that teachers with maximal beliefs (whether negative or positive attitudes) acknowledged that using English only as language of instruction to teach mathematics was not applicable in their classrooms. Sometimes they must use home language in order to proceed with their teaching. Despite the differences, teachers with optimal beliefs (whether negative or positive attitudes) acknowledged that their students had the right to use home language. Additional analysis provided the frequency and corresponding percentages of each translanguaging function (management, content, and social) employed in the three observed mathematics classrooms. Teacher with virtual beliefs and negative attitudes used Arabic for management purposes (89.5%), while the teacher with maximal beliefs and positive attitudes, used Arabic for management (55.1%) and content (33.3%) purposes. Last, the teacher with optimal beliefs and positive attitudes used Arabic 52.8% for content purposes and 34.3% for management purposes. In terms of the alignment between the teachers’ beliefs and attitudes with their classroom practices, we can say that they align generally. However, the teacher holding virtual beliefs and negative attitudes used Arabic for 15.3% despite the fact that she reported not using Arabic in her mathematics classes. But these 15.3% were distributed mainly into management purposes and the teacher might have treated those as insignificant.