Students’ language developed as they worked together in Spanish and English to solve
the problems. The students needed to use general terms, such as “solution” and “strategy;”
problem specific terms, such as “down payment” and “rebate;” and technical mathematical
language, such as “percent” and “interest rate” during the discussions. They often codeswitched
between Spanish and English to make sure everyone in the group understood. The
students themselves recognized that they were expanding their vocabulary as exemplified
when Pablo wrote, “What I like from sharing ideas was that we helped other and I learned
new words.”