Mathematics as a second language
March 11, 2021 2021-04-09 18:32Mathematics as a second language
Mathematics as a Second Language
For many students, achieving proficiency in reading and writing in their native language is a difficult task. The use of language in content specific disciplines such as mathematics makes that task even harder. In fact, students need considerable proficiency in the native and mathematical language because in a mathematics classroom, they need to constantly translate between mathematical and everyday language. For this reason, the framers of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS-M, 2010) recommend that schools and publishers of mathematics textbooks provide a high degree of familiarity with words, syntax, and grammar, as well as styles of presentation and arguments that are not part of informal talk.
Many people perceive mathematics learning as difficult, and increased linguistic demands heighten this perception. Effective teachers have always recognized language as an essential tool for the conceptualization of mathematics. The language used to convey mathematical information in teaching and learning is important because:
- The number of students in our schools with limited English language experiences or who speak English as a second language has increased dramatically.
- Students confront specialized and rigorous language in new mathematics textbooks.
- The concepts in reform curricula make new demands on students’ linguistic abilities and emphasize an enlarged vocabulary.
- The development of the conceptual schemas is not only facilitated by a strong linguistic component but also depends on it.
- The increased realization that mathematics achievement is directly related to a student’s mathematics language development, particularly the size of the mathematics vocabulary. Early and better performance in mathematics predicts achievement in higher mathematics as well as in reading.
- The modern technological society is built on strong numeracy as much as it is on literacy.
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