Abstract
For more than 14 years, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989, 2000) has advocated that teachers of mathematics facilitate that students make connections of various kinds, in their learning of mathematics. Semiotic theories, including those of Peirce and those of Saussure and Lacan (each for different purposes), provide useful lenses for examining ways that teachers may facilitate the making of connections, for instance between home and school mathematics, or between mathematics and other school subjects, or between different branches of mathematics. This paper describes a nested chaining model that takes into account the need for interpretation and meaning making at each step in the sequences involved in connections. A nested model has the capacity to allow for webs of signification and meaning that take into account the complexity of the processes in ways that linear semiotic chains cannot. Examples are taken from research projects with graduate students, with pre-service teachers, and with practicing teachers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adeyemi, C.A.: 2004, The Effect of Knowledge of Semiotic Chaining on the Beliefs, Mathematical Content Knowledge, and Practices of Pre-Service Teachers, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Illinois State University.
Cobb, P., Gravemeijer, K., Yackel, E., McClain, K. and Whitenack, J.: 1997, ‘Mathematizing and symbolizing: The emergence of chains of signification in one first grade classroom’, in D. Kirshner and J.A. Whitson (eds.), Situated Cognition: Social Semiotic, and Psychological Perspectives, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 151–233.
Cobb, P., Yackel, E. and McClain, K. (eds.): 2000, Symbolizing and Communicating in Mathematics Classrooms: Perspectives on Discourse, Tools, and Instructional Design, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey.
Colapietro, V.M.: 1993, Glossary of Semiotics, Paragon House, New York.
Dörfler, W.: 2000, ‘Means for meaning’, in P. Cobb, E. Yackel and K. McClain (eds.), Symbolizing and Communicating in Mathematics Classrooms: Perspectives on Discourse, Tools, and Instructional Design, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 99–131.
Hall, M.: 2000, Bridging the Gap Between Everyday and Classroom Mathematics: An Investigation of Two Teachers' Intentional Use of Semiotic Chains, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, The Florida State University.
Kirshner, D. and Whitson, J.A.: 1997, Situated Cognition: Social, Semiotic, and Psychological Perspectives, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, New Jersey.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E.: 1991, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
Leiter, K.: 1980, A Primer on Ethnomethodology, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: 1989, Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, The Council, Reston, VA.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: 2000, Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, The Council, Reston, Virginia.
Otte, M.: 2001, ‘Mathematical epistemology from a semiotic point of view’, in Proceedings of the Discussion Group for Semiotics in Mathematics Education, at the 25th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 12–17 July, 2001.
Peirce, C.S.: 1992, in N. Houser and C. Kloesel (eds.), The Essential Peirce, Vol. 1, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Peirce, C.S.: 1998, in Peirce Edition Project (ed.), The Essential Peirce, Vol. 2, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Pimm, D.: 1991, ‘Metaphoric and metonymic discourse in mathematics classrooms’, in Proceedings of the 13th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 2, Blacksburg, Virginia, pp. 43–49.
Pirie, S. and Kieren, T.: 1994, ‘Beyond metaphor: Formalising in mathematical understanding within constructivist environments’, For the Learning of Mathematics 14(1), 39–43.
Presmeg, N.C.: 1997a, ‘Reasoning with metaphors and metonymies in mathematics learning’, in L.D. English (ed.), Mathematical Reasoning: Analogies, Metaphors, and Images, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp. 267–279.
Presmeg, N.C.: 1997b, ‘A semiotic framework for linking cultural practice and classroom mathematics’, in J. Dossey, J. Swafford, M. Parmantie and A. Dossey (eds.), Proceedings of the 19th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 1, ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education, Columbus, Ohio, pp. 151–156.
Presmeg, N.C.: 1998a, ‘A semiotic analysis of students' own cultural mathematics. Research Forum Report’, in A. Olivier and K. Newstead (eds.), Proceedings of the 22nd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 1, pp. 136–151.
Presmeg, N.C.: 1998b, ‘Ethnomathematics in teacher education’, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education 1(3), 317–339.
Presmeg, N.C.: 1998c, ‘Metaphoric and metonymic signification in mathematics’, Journal of Mathematical Behaviour 17(1), 25–32.
Radford, L.: 2002a, ‘The seen, the spoken and the written: A semiotic approach to the problem of objectification of mathematical knowledge’, For the Learning of Mathematics 22(2), 14–23.
Radford, L.: 2002b, ‘On heroes and the collapse of narratives: A contribution to the study of symbolic thinking’, in A. D. Cockburn and E. Nardi (eds.), Proceedings of the 26th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 4, pp. 81–88.
de Saussure, F.: 1959, Course in General Linguistics, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Sfard, A.: 1991, ‘On the dual nature of mathematical conceptions’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 22, 1–36.
Sfard, A.: 2000, ‘Symbolizing mathematical reality into being – or how mathematical discourse and mathematical objects create each other’, in P. Cobb, E. Yackel and K. McClain (eds.), Symbolizing and Communicating in Mathematics Classrooms: Perspectives on Discourse, Tools, and Instructional Design, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp. 37–98.
Simon, M., Tzur, R., Heinz, K. and Kinzel, M.: 2000, ‘Articulating theoretical constructs for mathematics teaching’, in M.L. Fernandez (ed.), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 1, ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education, Columbus, Ohio, pp. 213–218.
Treffers, A.: 1993, ‘Wiskobas and Freudenthal: Realistic mathematics education’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 25, 89–108.
van Oers, B.: 2000, ‘The appropriation of mathematical symbols: A psychosemiotic approach to mathematics learning’, in P. Cobb, E. Yackel and K. McClain (eds.), Symbolizing and Communicating in Mathematics Classrooms: Perspectives on Discourse, Tools, and Instructional Design, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp. 133–176.
Walkerdine, V.: 1988, The Mastery of Reason: Cognitive Developments and the Production of Rationality, Routledge, New York.
Whitson, J.A.: 1994, ‘Elements of a semiotic framework for understanding situated and conceptual learning’, in D. Kirshner (ed.), Proceedings of the 16th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Vol. 1, Baton Rouge, pp. 35–50.
Whitson, J.A.: 1997, ‘Cognition as a semiosic process: From situated mediation to critical reflective transcendance’, in D. Kirshner and J.A. Whitson (eds.), Situated Cognition: Social, Semiotic, and Psychological Perspectives, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp. 97–149.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Presmeg, N. Semiotics and the “Connections” Standard: Significance of Semiotics for Teachers of Mathematics. Educ Stud Math 61, 163–182 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-006-3365-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-006-3365-z