Abstract
The purpose of this study is to present a multimodal languaging model for mathematics education. The model consists of mathematical symbolic language, a pictorial language, and a natural language. By applying this model, the objective was to study how 4th grade pupils (N = 21) understand the concept of division. The data was collected over six hours of teaching sessions, during which the pupils expressed their mathematical thinking mainly by writing and drawing. Their productions, as well as questionnaire after the process, were analyzed qualitatively. The results show that, in expressing the mathematical problem in verbal form, most of the students saw it as a division into parts. It was evident from the pupils’ texts and drawings that the mathematical expression of subtraction could be interpreted in three different ways. It was found that the pupils enjoyed using writing in the solution of word problems, and it is suggested that the use of different modes in expressing mathematical thinking may both strengthen the learning of mathematical concepts and support the evaluation of learning.
Highlights
There has been a strong emphasis on the use of symbolic mathematical language in representing mathematics
It was found that the pupils enjoyed using writing in the solution of word problems, and it is suggested that the use of different modes in expressing mathematical thinking may both strengthen the learning of mathematical concepts and support the evaluation of learning
The use of multimodal languaging model in the process revealed the contexts into which abstract mathematical symbolic language was referring to in the student’s thinking
Summary
There has been a strong emphasis on the use of symbolic mathematical language in representing mathematics. This has, been found to be a limiting factor in expressing mathematical thinking in learning processes [1,2,3]. The aim of this article is to present a multimodal languaging model, in which the ways to express mathematical thinking are expanded beyond mathematic symbolic language. Different ways of expressing thinking and making meaning form the underlying theoretical basis for this study. The present model includes three types of semiotic systems of meaning-making: a symbolic mathematical language, a natural language, and a pictorial language [2,5]. It has been recommended that, in a national assessment of learning outcomes [8], languaging should be an integral to the pedagogical method in learning mathematics
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