Speaking in and about Mathematics Classrooms Internationally: The technical vocabulary of students and teachers

Presenter Information

David Clarke, University of Melbourne

Start Date

16-8-2010 9:00 AM

End Date

16-8-2010 10:15 AM

Comments

This presentation takes patterns of language use as the entry point for the consideration of discourses in and about the mathematics classroom. These patterns of language take the form of discourses performed within mathematics classrooms around the world and among the international mathematics education community about the mathematics classroom. Cross-cultural comparisons reveal how discourses in and about the mathematics classroom have developed in different cultures. Research is used to explore the role of spoken language in mathematics classrooms situated in Asian and Western countries. In conceptualising effective learning, researchers, teachers and curriculum developers need to locate proficiency with mathematical language within their framework of valued learning outcomes. Further, different cultures, employing different languages, have chosen to name and therefore privilege different classroom activities. Research is reported into how language is and might be used to describe the events of mathematics classrooms in different cultures. Research and theorising undertaken in and about those mathematics classrooms must be sensitive to the participants’ conceptions of classroom practice, as performed in classroom discourse and as expressed in the professional discourse of mathematics educators in those communities.

Abstract

This session is also available as an audiorecording.

Recommended Citation

Clarke, D. (2010, August 16). Speaking in and about Mathematics Classrooms Internationally: The technical vocabulary of students and teachers [Paper presentation]. 2010 - Teaching Mathematics? Make it Count. https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2010/16august/2