This week, I had the privilege of spending a day immersed in mathematics teaching and learning in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. This corner of Europe is renowned for its innovative practice, and in particular bilingual approaches to teaching and learning. What I noticed was mathematics practice in this context is much more than a series of procedures; it is a shared language of discovery.
By weaving together metacognition, bilingualism, and learner autonomy, Dutch practitioners create a culture where students make sense of mathematical concepts through a rich focus on understanding and experiencing the language which represents them.
Within the context of oracy, in England, Voice 21 offers a structure that categorises talk into physical, linguistic, cognitive, and social-emotional strands, providing students with a technical meta-language to talk about talk and evaluate their own reasoning. Chambers’ (2025) develops this further by advocating prioritising the dialogic intent of discussion, which serves as a vital metacognitive pivot where confusion is not a failure but a catalyst for collaborative meaning-making. Within the classrooms in Nijmegen, such approaches were evidently embedded within the bilingual practices I observed. Students were not just solving problems individually; instead, they worked within a culture of “we’re learning together”, using technical language as a tool to help one another discover the mathematical structure behind a task.
Below are some of my key takeaways from what I noticed.
1. Modelling the thinking voice
In Dutch primary settings, particularly those influenced by Jenaplan and Montessori philosophies, learning is framed as a community effort. During a lesson on fractions, I witnessed a masterclass in metacognition. The teacher explicitly modelled their own thinking process, in this case breaking 45% into manageable “chunks” (100% to 10%, to 5%, to 1%). This does resonate with practice I have observed in England, but the main difference was how she spent more time considering key terms within the process. This was due to the complex nature of teaching mathematics in a second language. She paused when she considered the operation taking place, such as multiplying and dividing, to really make sure the children understood what was taking place mathematically within the process.
This process of thinking aloud, or metacognition, acts as a vital scaffold by providing a “meta-language” to talk about the work, with the students moving from passive recipients to active participants. Soon, students were heard adopting this voice themselves: “First I find 10%…I divide it by 10 and then multiply it by, then I subtract”. This practice aligns directly with EEF (2017) guidance, which advocates for the explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies to help pupils plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning.
What we must remember here is that these students were learning both a mathematical process and applying it in their second language. This is where metacognition became particularly powerful. This teacher was able to guide the students’ thinking and help them make sense of the mathematical concepts through her constant modelling of language, her thought processes and the mathematical procedure taking place.
2. Valuing the getting stuck!
At the secondary school setting, the challenge of learning mathematics bilingually was observed on a greater scale, particularly as the subject content became increasingly abstract and complex. A striking feature of these classrooms was the teacher’s willingness to let students grapple with tasks like quadratic equations first. Students were encouraged to get stuck before an explanation was offered, ensuring they owned the initial thinking process.
This pedagogical choice mirrors the idea of “sharing puzzlements”. Identifying moments of confusion is not just a mathematical hurdle; it is a key metacognitive strategy and a pivot for exploratory talk. This “grapple” fosters students’ ability to seek information and clarification through questioning and to critically examine ideas first. It requires an empathetic classroom ethos where students feel safe to trust their peers with their personal feelings of uncertainty.
The impact was evident. Students found comfort in discovering that their peers felt and were experiencing the same episodes of ‘puzzlement’. There was a culture of shared discovery. As students worked through and conquered the complex mathematics content being delivered.
3. Language as a Formal Representation
In these bilingual settings, language is respected as a mathematical representation. Classroom walls are adorned with posters defining the different mathematical operations including multiple words such as “product” and “sum,” and teachers insisted on the rigorous use of correct terms.
This focus directly resonates with the Voice 21 guidance including:
- Linguistic: Choosing appropriate vocabulary and matching language to the situation.
- Cognitive: Using language stems like “Can you be more specific?” to support conceptual understanding and structure.
By treating vocabulary as a formal representation, students move beyond rote memorisation of procedures toward a deeper understanding of mathematical structures.
There was also a firm expectation that students would tell the teacher more. I heard practitioners routinely asking children to use correct terminology and putting them into context. When a student was asked what they noticed about the fraction 6/20 and what they needed to do next to this fraction to turn it into 3/10, the teacher then asked them to describe what process they had undertaken. The student described how they had divided 6 and 20 by 2, however the teacher dug deeper. She asked the student to revisit his explanation, now explaining, with support, that both the numerator and denominator had been divided by 2. The teacher then asked them to reflect upon the process they had undergone. Before moving on, she guided the student to articulate the process they had used. The student concluded their explanation by referring to the term ‘simplifying’. This moment became a whole-class learning experience in how language represents mathematical processes. Throughout my observations it was noted that there was a zero tolerance for incorrect use of terms. A further example of this was when a student described the following expression X2 as X-two, the teacher corrected them and asked them to repeat their response.
4. A “Culture of Together”
The most impactful observation was the relational foundation of the Dutch classroom. Despite the high academic rigour of bilingual demand, students were set off to complete tasks with the simple command of: “Have fun!”.
This sophisticated practice is no accident. It is supported by a clear policy-pedagogy connection, with bilingual legislation informed by a successful nearly nine-year pilot. It demonstrates a commitment to a social and emotional culture where collaborative learning and listening and responding are the ultimate foundations for success.
It’s not without challenges, though. When I asked students how they find the experience of learning mathematics bilingually, they expressed that mathematics is the hardest subject to learn in English. This is because of how the key terms are translated between Dutch and English. For example, they weren’t just learning about the process of navigating quadratic equations, they were learning new terminology in English at the same time, which represent the mathematical process and procedures they were undertaking.
So these are my considerations. What can we learn about oracy from what I noticed from bilingual mathematics practice?
- Value the Grapple and let learners get stuck! Resist the urge to step in too early; allow being stuck to be part of the learning and use it as a vehicle for discovery and discussion.
- Language as a tool: Treat vocabulary as a formal representation to help students bridge the gap between procedure and structure.
- Model your thinking: Explicitly share your mathematical thought processes to empower students to find their own metacognitive voice.
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