Vocabulary in learning processes towards conceptual understanding of equivalent fractions\u2014specifying students\u2019 language demands on the basis of lexical trace analyses

Lena Wessel

doi:10.1007/s13394-019-00284-z

Abstract

Although the teaching of vocabulary in mathematics lessons is requested in content- and language-integrated lesson designs, the clarification of the specific lexical language demands is still an open question for many mathematical topics. In a content- and language-integrated lesson design towards understanding the concept of equivalent fractions, the vocabulary (words and phrases) used by 17 students has been analyzed with qualitative means of data analysis. The qualitative in-depth analyses underline the importance of meaning-related vocabulary for making structural relations between the fractions in view explicit. Quantitative analyses of inventoried vocabulary for the four categories “self-initiated by students,” “triggered by teaching material,” “triggered by teacher,” or “triggered by peers” show the relations of collective and autonomous vocabularies from which the students retrieve their lexical means in oral and written language production.

Highlights

More than 30 years ago, Orton (1987) already claimed that “it might be that problems of vocabulary are considered to be fairly superficial within the whole issue of language and mathematics learning, but it is critical that such problems are not ignored in the hope they will go away” (p. 127)
Which task- or concept-specific lexical means do students use along the learning pathway and how do they relate to the development of conceptual understanding of equivalent fractions?
The focus is put on research question Q1 Which task- or concept-specific lexical means do students use along the learning pathway and how do they relate to the development of conceptual understanding towards equivalent fractions? By presenting selected moments and cases from the in-depth qualitative analyses, conclusions are drawn for an empirically informed specification of lexical means that have been evaluated as a key vocabulary for & developing conceptual understanding of equivalent fractions in teaching designs that draw upon activities of relating registers, and & meeting the discursive demand of structural reasoning why two rates are equivalent

Summary

Introduction

More than 30 years ago, Orton (1987) already claimed that “it might be that problems of vocabulary are considered to be fairly superficial within the whole issue of language and mathematics learning, but it is critical that such problems are not ignored in the hope they will go away” (p. 127). The vocabulary offered in the teaching material and the activated lexical means of the students are inventoried and analyzed qualitatively in relation to the individual conceptual learning pathways towards equivalent fractions.

Results

Conclusion