Classroom language use in multilingual settings: Mathematics lessons from Quebec and Zimbabwe

This article is concerned with language use in mathematics lessons in settings where the language of instruction is a second language for all or most of the learners. Four lessons taken from primary schools in Montreal and in Zimbabwe are compared, illustrating ways in which teachers in each setting couple development of the target second language with teaching of subject content. By doing so, we believe that instruction is effective in helping children to make the shift from the primary school emphasis on computing numbers to the secondary level emphasis on solving problems; in the long term children are also better prepared for the language-related demands of higher education.