Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense
New semiotic perspectives about the role of language in mathematics education indicate that teachers have a fundamental role in communicating and teaching the language that carries mathematical meaning. However, little is known about how educators of young children understand and use the language of...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/1/38 |
| _version_ | 1811306204715024384 |
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| author | Gabriela Arias de Sanchez Martha A. Gabriel Ann Anderson Miles Turnbull |
| author_facet | Gabriela Arias de Sanchez Martha A. Gabriel Ann Anderson Miles Turnbull |
| author_sort | Gabriela Arias de Sanchez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | New semiotic perspectives about the role of language in mathematics education indicate that teachers have a fundamental role in communicating and teaching the language that carries mathematical meaning. However, little is known about how educators of young children understand and use the language of mathematics. This study addresses this void. Supported by the understanding that mathematics has its own language (Pimm, 1987), the study focuses on code switching—the mixing of words from two languages—by educators as they shift between the language of instruction and the language of mathematics. A qualitative multiple case study approach utilizing discourse analysis was used to explore three early years teachers’ math talk. Findings indicate that these educators code-switched to the mathematics register when they talked about numbers, number words and counting, to revoice students’ ideas, to explain students’ and teachers’ actions, to provide new math information, and when they chose between two terms that belonged to the math register. Findings also demonstrated that educators preferred to avoid the use of the mathematics’ register and relied instead on what the educators called “familiar language.” Findings further indicated the presence of semantic patterns between perceptual terms and the mathematics register. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:40:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a46db93a67b84e1c87a35849d82e101c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:40:17Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a46db93a67b84e1c87a35849d82e101c2022-12-22T02:53:55ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022018-03-01813810.3390/educsci8010038educsci8010038Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number SenseGabriela Arias de Sanchez0Martha A. Gabriel1Ann Anderson2Miles Turnbull3Faculty of Education, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, CanadaFaculty of Education, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, CanadaDepartment of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaVice-Principal Academic, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 1Z7, CanadaNew semiotic perspectives about the role of language in mathematics education indicate that teachers have a fundamental role in communicating and teaching the language that carries mathematical meaning. However, little is known about how educators of young children understand and use the language of mathematics. This study addresses this void. Supported by the understanding that mathematics has its own language (Pimm, 1987), the study focuses on code switching—the mixing of words from two languages—by educators as they shift between the language of instruction and the language of mathematics. A qualitative multiple case study approach utilizing discourse analysis was used to explore three early years teachers’ math talk. Findings indicate that these educators code-switched to the mathematics register when they talked about numbers, number words and counting, to revoice students’ ideas, to explain students’ and teachers’ actions, to provide new math information, and when they chose between two terms that belonged to the math register. Findings also demonstrated that educators preferred to avoid the use of the mathematics’ register and relied instead on what the educators called “familiar language.” Findings further indicated the presence of semantic patterns between perceptual terms and the mathematics register.http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/1/38early mathematics educationcode switchingdiscourse analysismathematics register |
| spellingShingle | Gabriela Arias de Sanchez Martha A. Gabriel Ann Anderson Miles Turnbull Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense Education Sciences early mathematics education code switching discourse analysis mathematics register |
| title | Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense |
| title_full | Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense |
| title_fullStr | Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense |
| title_full_unstemmed | Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense |
| title_short | Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense |
| title_sort | code switching explorations in teaching early number sense |
| topic | early mathematics education code switching discourse analysis mathematics register |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/8/1/38 |
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