Investigation of Mathematics Teachers’ Awareness of Developing Mathematical
Language
Ayla ATA BARAN1
Tangül KABAEL2
Abstract
Teachers naturally focus on mathematics instead of language and students are
traditionally expected to learn the new language skills needed for mathematics by exposure
rather than explicit instruction in much the same way they learned their original, natural
language. But the language of mathematics is not a natural language (Gray, 2004). Because of
the importance of this language in mathematics education, teachers should strongly endorse
the use of mathematical language in the classroom and frequently make efforts to assess
student communication (Owens, 2006). The purpose of this study was to investigate
mathematics teachers’ awareness of developing students’ ability for using mathematical
language effectively. The study was designed qualitatively in which the data was collected
through clinical interviews. Clinical interviews were conducted with ten middle school
mathematics teachers. Clinical interviews were nearly fifty minutes long and videotaped by a
camera. Data was analyzed qualitatively by using thematic analysis technique (Gibbs, 2007).
The findings revealed that teachers believed that the ability of using mathematical language
positively affects students’ success in mathematics. According to the findings, half of the
participants weren’t aware of that mathematics is a universal language. Besides, the teachers,
who had awareness about this language, graduated from mathematics major or had a graduate
education in mathematics education. Furthermore, these teachers were also adequate in
explaining the properties and structure of mathematical language. Another finding of this
study was that teachers believed that using the language of mathematics effectively ensure to
develop students’ ability of using mathematical language. While the participants graduated
from faculty of education said that they should just have sufficient pedagogical knowledge,
the participants graduated from mathematics major said that they should both have sufficient
pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge. Thus, teachers were lacking of what their
responsibilities are about developing the ability of using this language. Eventually, it was
questioned that what the signs of mathematical communication ability are in middle school
mathematics curriculum. It was found that using mathematical symbols and mathematical
terms correctly, expressing mathematical thoughts orally were signs of mathematical
communication ability in curriculum.
Key Words: The language of mathematics, Mathematical communication, Middle
school mathematics.
References:
Gibbs, R. G. (2007). Analyzing qualitative data. London: Sage Publications.
Gray, V. D. (2004). The Language of Mathematics: A Functional Definition and the
Development of an Instrument to Measure Teacher Perceived Self-efficacy, Ph.D. diss.,
Oregon State University.
Owens, B. (2006). The Language of Mathematics: Mathematical Terminology
Simplified for Classroom Use, master diss., East Tennessee State University.
1
Res. Assist., Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Elementary Mathematics Education, Eskisehir, TURKEY.
E-mail: aabaran@anadolu.edu.tr Phone number: (0222)3350580
2
Assoc. Prof. Dr., Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Elementary Mathematics Education, Eskisehir,
TURKEY. E-mail: tuygur@anadolu.edu.tr Phone number: (0222)3350580