Language Diversity in Research on Language Diversity in Mathematics Education

• Published in: Mathematics Education and Language Diversity pp. 263 - 277
• Main Authors: Chellougui, Faïza, Thu, Hien Nguyen Thi, Winsløw, Carl
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 2015; Springer International Publishing
• Series: New ICMI Study Series
• Subjects: French Language; Language Diversity; Lesson Study; Mathematics Education; Mother Tongue; Teaching of a specific subject; Teaching skills & techniques
• ISBN: 331914510X; 9783319145105
• ISSN: 1387-6872; 2215-1745
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-14511-2_14

Research on educational phenomena, which always occur in cultural and societal contexts, cannot escape the trappings of language. This applies even to research on the teaching and learning of mathematics, despite the relative similarity of the topics taught around the world and the practicality of communicating internationally in a few common languages. In this chapter, we propose a framework which allows us to identify some intriguing effects of the need for shared natural languages to function in the work of researchers. We use this framework to examine some cases of research on language diversity in mathematics education, including research from the present ICMI study. The framework is essentially based on the anthropological theory of didactics, used as a “meta-theory.”