Hello!
My name is Jenny Stacey, and I teach at a medium-sized FE college in the Midlands. My subjects are Maths, from Entry 1 to GCSE, and ESOL, English for Speakers of Other Languages, at Entry Level. I have been teaching ESOL Maths since 2005 and have built up a small bank of knowledge, worksheets and ideas for teaching sessions, which I hope you may find useful if you are involved in delivering Maths to learners whose first language is not English.
My learners have ranged from those with excellent maths skills to those with a very low level of skills, and from those with very little English to some working towards Level 1 or 2. Some are only looking to help their children or improve their job prospects, but others have needed a Maths qualification for their onward journey into nursing, teaching or other professions.
I hope you find the site useful and have as much fun teaching Maths as I have! I will be editing the site from time to time to improve and update it. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please do get in touch.
This material is protected by copyright. You may print off resources to use or adapt, but please reference my work wherever possible. All other sections should be referenced and acknowledged in any other work. If you are in any doubt, please e-mail me at stillknitting@gmail.com .
There is no liability on my part for any of the information, resources or ideas presented on this website, or any incidents or actions arising from them. The views presented are my own and come from my teaching experience and academic research. I include a list of references for those interested in pursuing further study in this field.
My thanks go to my colleagues, past and present who have helped and encouraged me in this project, especially Sarah for proof reading.
JMS 2013/14
Update 2024: I have recently retired from the FE college, although I really miss it and might go back part time! I do some marking work for Sheffield Hallam University, and have just achieved a Doctorate in Education (EdD). When I have finished my 'minor corrections' I will up date this website and add more resources, links to published work etc.
For now, this is my current list, excluding the two chapters in 'This worked for me!', edited by Fiona Allan, and published by the ATM in 2024.
Happy ESOL maths teaching everyone!
Stacey, J. M. (2016). Does adding Mathematics to English language learners' timetables improve their acquisition of English? Language Issues 27.1, 84-87.
Stacey, J. M. (2017, June 17). Mathematics and Examination Anxiety in Adult Learners: the findings of surveys of GCSE Maths students in an FE college in the UK. All Hands on Math- Proceedings of the 24th International Conference of Adults Learning Mathematics (pp. 113-121). Rotterdam: alm-online.net. Retrieved from Adults Learning Mathematics: http://www.alm-online.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ALM24-Stacey_Jenny-Mathematics-and-Examination-Anxiety-in-Adult-Learners.pdf
Stacey, J. M. (2018). How language interferes with maths: a guide for teachers of ESOL mathematics. Language Issues Volume 29.1, 45-53.
Stacey, J. M. (2022). Changing perceptions among adult learners (19+) in further education studying GCSE mathematics: Methodology and data analysis -the importance of the pilot. Twelfth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12) (pp. 1-8). Bozen-Bolzano, Italy: https://hal.science/CERME12/hal-03745546v1.
Stacey, J. M. (2024). Challenging stereotypes of adult learners in mathematics. Language Issues 34.2, 41-51.
Website at www.esolmaths.co.uk Teaching and Learning in ESOL Maths (google.com)