Paper Title
Indications of Teachers� Intention to Inculcate Soft Skills in Primary School Mathematics Classrooms

Abstract
Interpersonal, intrapersonal, and communication skills are examples of soft skills that workers should have which can contribute towards an organization�s progress. It is important to inculcate soft skills related to attitude and values during early years of education. Many researches focussed on inculcation of soft skills on students at higher education institutions in preparing them for relevant workplaces but few has focussed on inculcation of soft skills at primary schools level. This paper discusses a small part of our broader qualitative exploratory study that looks into the characteristics of teaching and learning environments in selected primary schools� mathematics classrooms. Here we provide a glimpse into a mathematics teacher�s talk or verbal indications which could be interpreted as latent intention towards inculcating soft skills competence among pupils during a mathematics lesson. The findings indicate that there were instances of indications for inculcation of soft skills during the implementation of teaching and learning activities. The teacher talk provided evidence for the inculcation of probable soft skills which include critical and creative thinking, collaborative effort, cooperation, communication, team working, tolerance and leadership. The findings contribute to field of mathematics education that promotes infusion of soft skills within primary schools� mathematics classrooms. Index terms- Soft skills, Mathematics classrooms, Teacher talk, Learning environments, Mathematics learning