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Mathematics Education Research Journal

, Volume 26, Issue 2, pp 169–192 | Cite as

Influences of indigenous language on spatial frames of reference in Aboriginal English

  • Cris Edmonds-Wathen
Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

The Aboriginal English spoken by Indigenous children in remote communities in the Northern Territory of Australia is influenced by the home languages spoken by themselves and their families. This affects uses of spatial terms used in mathematics such as ‘in front’ and ‘behind.’ Speakers of the endangered Indigenous Australian language Iwaidja use the intrinsic frame of reference in contexts where speakers of Standard Australian English use the relative frame of reference. Children speaking Aboriginal English show patterns of use that parallel the Iwaidja contexts. This paper presents detailed examples of spatial descriptions in Iwaidja and Aboriginal English that demonstrate the parallel patterns of use. The data comes from a study that investigated how an understanding of spatial frame of reference in Iwaidja could assist teaching mathematics to Indigenous language-speaking students. Implications for teaching mathematics are explored for teachers without previous experience in a remote Indigenous community.

Keywords

Indigenous Australian language Remote Language and cognition Spatial frames of reference Aboriginal English 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies and an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship. The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Bruce Birch in collecting and analysing the senior adult data, and of †Joy Malwagag Williams in translating the data. Earlier versions of parts of this paper were presented at the ICMI Conference Study 21: Mathematics Education and Linguistic Diversity, September 16–20, 2011, São Paulo, Brazil (Edmonds-Wathen 2011b) and the 12th International Congress on Mathematics Education, July 8–15, 2012, Seoul, Korea (Edmonds-Wathen 2012a). Thanks to Steve Thornton, Robyn Gregson and the anonymous reviewers whose advice and feedback has improved this paper.

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© Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc. 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of EducationCharles Darwin UniversityDarwinAustralia

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