Scaffolding Language for Learning in Mathematics for English Learners Receiving Intensive Intervention

Eliciting student thinking during mathematics instruction allows teachers to choose tasks with high cognitive demand while also engaging students to use productive struggle to solve mathematical problems, thus increasing their conceptual understanding. Often, students who require intensive intervention in mathematics, in particular, students who are English learners, are not able to participate in discourse opportunities within core instruction in mathematics because they lack the confidence or the necessary skills. This includes students with mathematics difficulties as well as students with identified mathematics disabilities. Discourse provides multiple opportunities to practice using and listening to content-specific language, which is critical to developing academic language and accessing higher-level mathematics. This article summarizes the research supporting discourse in mathematics interventions as well as appropriate scaffolds to support discourse within intensive intervention for English learners, ultimately improving student understanding and performance.