International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue XI, November 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Nick Vincent Otuma, Robert Kati, Duncan Wasike
Kibabii University, Kenya
Abstract. Perhaps more than any other subject, teaching and learning mathematics depends on language. Mathematics is about relationships: relation between numbers, categories, geometric forms, variables and so on. In general, these relationships are abstract in nature and can only be realized and articulated through language. Even mathematical symbols must be interpreted linguistically. Thus, while mathematics is often seen as language free, in many ways learning mathematics fundamentally depends on language. For students still developing their proficiency in the language instruction, the challenge is considerable. Indeed research has shown that while many second speakers of English (L2) students are quickly able to develop a basic level of conversational English it takes several years do develop more specialised mathematical English. This paper reports findings of a study whose part of the objectives investigated how students construe specialised mathematical meanings from everyday words to express conceptual understanding of mathematics. The study employed multiple-case study design in three categories of schools, that is, Sub-County School (SCS), County School (CS) and Extra-County School (ECS). Data were collected by questionnaires, classroom observations and interviews. Findings indicate that students had challenges in interpreting mathematical meanings of ordinary vocabulary used in mathematics curriculum-they stated ordinary meanings of words instead of mathematical meanings. The paper recommends integration of mathematical language as a strand in the curriculum of mathematics in secondary schools in L2 context to assist learners attain conceptual understanding of mathematics.
Key Words: Specialised mathematical English, Ordinary English, mathematics concepts, L2 learners
I. INTRODUCTION
Mathematics is communicated by styles of a language that is used specifically by a community of people learning and talking about mathematics. The use of language specific to a particular discipline or community of people is referred to as a register. Prediger & Zindel (2017) give four characteristics of registers: “the types of communication situations, their fields of language use, the discourse styles, and modes of discourse” (p. 4160). Hence we have mathematics register, legal register, medical register, accounting register, just to mention but a few. Teachers and students, for instance, use the school academic language, also known as Language of Teaching and Learning (LoTL), for teaching and learning purpose hence it is referred to as school academic language register. Thus, the school academic language register plays an important role as the