A volume in Research in Mathematics Education Series Editor Barbara J.
Dougherty, Iowa State University Marketing description: Issues of
language in mathematics learning and teaching are important for both
practical and theoretical reasons. Addressing issues of language is
crucial for improving mathematics learning and teaching for students who
are bilingual, multilingual, or learning English. These issues are also
relevant to theory: studies that make language visible provide a complex
perspective of the role of language in reasoning and learning
mathematics. What is the relevant knowledge base to consider when
designing research studies that address issues of language in the
learning and teaching of mathematics? What scholarly literature is
relevant and can contribute to research? In order to address issues of
language in mathematics education, researchers need to use theoretical
perspectives that integrate current views of mathematics learning and
teaching with current views on language, discourse, bilingualism, and
second language acquisition. This volume contributes to the development
of such integrated approaches to research on language issues in
mathematics education by describing theoretical perspectives for framing
the study of language issues and methodological issues to consider when
designing research studies. The volume provides interdisciplinary
reviews of the research literature from four very different
perspectives: mathematics education (Moschkovich),
Cultural-Historical-Activity Theory (Gutiérrez, Sengupta-Irving, &
Dieckmann), systemic functional linguistics (Schleppegrell), and
assessment (Solano-Flores). This volume offers graduate students and
researchers new to the study of language in mathematics education an
introduction to resources for conceptualizing, framing, and designing
research studies. For those already involved in examining language
issues, the volume provides useful and critical reviews of the
literature as well as recommendations for moving forward in designing
research. Lastly, the volume provides a basis for dialogue across
multiple research communities engaged in collaborative work to address
these pressing issues.
