This study provides the first large-scale quantitative exploration of mathematical language use in upper elementary U.S. classrooms. Our approach employs natural language processing techniques to describe variation in teachers' and students' use of mathematical language in 1,657 fourth and fifth grade lessons in 317 classrooms in four districts…

Recently the prevailing language-as-resource metaphor has been problematised and theorised. Using the philosophical theory of inferentialism, we trace an epistemological dimension of multilingualism in mathematics education and add it to the current language-as-resource discussions. With data from two different settings--a mathematics classroom in…

In discussion-oriented classrooms, students create mathematical ideas through conversations that reflect growing collective knowledge. Linguistic forms known as indexicals assist in the analysis of this collective, negotiated understanding. Indexical words and phrases create meaning through reference to the physical, verbal and ideational context.…

Syriac translations and Syriac scholars played an important role in the transmission of the sciences, including the mathematical sciences, from the Greek to the Arabic world. Relatively little, unfortunately, remains of the translations and original mathematical works of earlier Syriac scholars, but some materials have survived, and further…

Much has been written to convince content-area teachers to include literacy instruction as part of their regular content instruction. The purpose of this study was to determine how the messages available in the literature are framed and how they might be viewed by content-area teachers, especially mathematics teachers. The analysis revealed that…

This chapter is about culture and mathematics teaching and learning. The authors' goal is to offer a thoughtful treatment of the role of culture in the teaching and learning of mathematics and to synthesize literature that is relevant to this concern from multiple subdisciplines in education, including math education, educational anthropology,…

Presents three schools of argument on mathematical communication: (1) cognitivist argument; (2) interactionist argument; and (3) neo-pragmatist argument. Distinguishes the mathematical versus talking about mathematics, talking mathematics versus learning the art of mathematical conversation, and the conversation of mathematicians versus students'…

Discusses linguistic influence on children's numerical development. Describes and reviews recent papers that address the relationship between number naming systems and children's numerical concepts. (Contains 20 references.) (ASK)

There is a strange fact that many works written with the purpose to explain what is mathematics, somehow avoid the issue. This paper is aimed at filling this gap. After discussing various descriptions of mathematics as they appear in literature, it is suggested that mathematics is an essentially linguistic activity characterized by association of…

Explores how to develop children's understanding of mathematical vocabulary. Presents a lesson in which the class works on the concept of dimension, and issues raised by a discussion of applied linguistics and mathematics education. Discussion was stimulated by advice from the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) vocabulary book. (KHR)

Discusses the effects of mathematical language on the teaching and learning of mathematics. Concludes that educators need to expend far greater effort to bring all students to a fuller understanding of, and appreciation for, the language of mathematics. Contains 18 references. (ASK)

This paper is a report on experimental courses in calculus and linear algebra which have been given for the past three years at Swarthmore College. Computing is used to represent the ideas and concepts of calculus and linear algebra and to facilitate their analysis and exploration. APL is used as the notation. (MN)

Suggests that it is possible to apply the principles of literary criticism to the mathematical text. Discussed are the areas of rhetoric, metaphor, and metonymy. (PK)

This paper focuses on lexical ambiguity. With respect to mathematics classrooms, polysemy has been mentioned as one of the principal concerns, namely certain words having different but related meanings. It may also happen when different meanings of a word are presumed in everyday context and in another environment, in this case in mathematics…

Recommends a change in the way mathematics is taught to engineers and scientists. Espouses a shift away from traditional methods to an approach that makes significant use of algebra packages. Suggests that teaching the language comprised of the notation and grammar of mathematics would be of more use and more accessible than focusing entirely on…