Abstract
Statement of Problem: The mathematical writing of students in K-12 dual-immersion programs merits increased attention following the adoption of new academic standards across the United States earlier this decade. These standards convey the expectation that students produce discipline-specific academic language across content areas, including mathematics. Consequently, the mathematical achievement of students across the nation—including those in dual-immersion programs—will be judged partly on their production of mathematical writing. To help dual-immersion students develop the ability to produce mathematical writing, educators must thus be aware of the particular ways in which these students apply language resources to write mathematically. This study provides an analysis of the language resources applied by one dual-immersion student in her written responses to mathematical-writing prompts. Based on conclusions derived from this analysis, recommendations are offered for developing K-12 students’ ability to write mathematically. Sources of Data: Data for this study consisted of one dual-immersion second-grader’s written responses to six mathematical writing prompts. Qualitative analysis highlighted in detail the specific language resources the student applied within each individual writing sample, as well as across writing samples. Conclusions Reached: Itzel produced hybrid forms of text in response to the tasks of composing story-problems and informative/explanatory mathematical writing. These hybrid forms were primarily results of combining a variety of language resources found in writing standards at grade level and above grade level. The “hybridity” of the student’s writing facilitated her attention to the language demands of purpose/process, form, context, and content. However, language resources were applied more adeptly in response to the task of composing story-problems than in response to informative/explanatory mathematical writing tasks. This finding suggests that students and educators alike would benefit from more detailed pedagogical support, direction, and research regarding mathematical writing, particularly informative/explanatory forms.