Navigating mathematics and language tensions in language immersion classrooms

Based on analyses of videos from language immersion classrooms in Colombia and the US, we examine how teachers manage the tension between how much attention to give to mathematics and to language. Consistent with previous research that regards mathematics and language as inseparable, findings suggest that teaching episodes fall along a continuum from mathematically intense to linguistically intense, with some balanced episodes in the middle of the continuum. Balanced episodes exhibited semiotic juxtaposition where multiple semiotic resources were used simultaneously. We discuss implications that the intentional use of semiotic juxtaposition may have for language immersion mathematics learners.