Interweave Language and Mathematics

Abstract

‘Learning without Burden’ is what the teachers should seek to provide to their students. Framework on elaborating about the pedagogy of mathematics education affirms that the aim of mathematics education should not merely be algorithmic in nature. Students should be able to highlight relationships among ideas and use concepts for problem solving. This entails that learners should be allowed to express understanding of mathematical terms, concepts or relationships in their own words. They should be encouraged to speak mathematically. In order to be able to do so, mathematics teaching should focus on eliciting of these relationships from students. Mathematics is a living subject which seeks to understand patterns that permeate both the world around us and the mind within us. Although the language of mathematics is based on rules that must be learned, it is important for motivation that students move beyond rules to be able to express things in the language of mathematics. This necessitates the use of language in improving understanding of mathematics. Several researchers have supported the view over the years. For instance, Resnick suggests that using everyday language to talk about a range of mathematical relationships and interpretations may result in more meaningful problem solving. Thus a totally different outlook towards how mathematics is taught and assessed in the classrooms is necessitated. Several reforms have already been implemented, yet the way mathematics is dealt with in the classrooms need to be looked into. The discussion derives its genesis from the need to break barriers between language and mathematics as compartmentalized subjects and use them together for improving mathematics teaching and learning. The paper involves a brief discussion on the literature review of researches between mathematics and language. Followed by, a detailed discussion of various strategies that could support the use and development of integrating language in mathematical discussions in the classrooms. An offshoot of integrating mathematics and language in the classroom would be developing interest and appreciation for the subject of mathematics is also posited by the author.