The Use of Talk in Mathematics

Abstract

The statement ‘talk is but one element of language use’ becomes highly significant when considering mathematics classrooms. Whereas in other areas of the curriculum the words and syntax used in oral discourse are closely related to those employed in written communication, this is untrue for mathematics. Here the written forms are symbolic rather than verbal, and one cannot therefore assume that notions concerning relationships between oral and written language derived from other disciplines will necessarily transfer to the learning and teaching of mathematics. The learning process becomes more complex, because, for understanding to take place, children have to construct mathematical meanings from experiences that, at least initially, are embedded in everyday language and “everyday language” can have slippery, changing meanings sometimes encompassing more, sometimes less, than the sought after mathematical meaning. Only after this can mathematical symbols be introduced (Pirie, 1997). There is no one-one correspondence between the written and the oral. Indeed, this is not the only linguistic transition that the mathematics learner is expected to master. Mathematics also has its own verbal register, which is composed of a combination of mother-tongue words, many with distorted or specialised meanings, and additional new vocabulary, quite specific to mathematics (Pimm, 1987). Consider the differences between: “Four threes are twelve”, “the product of three and four is twelve”, and 3 4=12. From the perspective of the teacher, how can one know what and how much understanding is encapsulated in students’ own use of the mathematics register, unless the students can also express themselves in everyday language and function with the symbolic representation? The three facets of mathematical language are inextricably woven together.