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Copyright of Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology is the property of Editorial of the University of Almeria (Spain) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ethnomathematics is the mathematics of cultural groups, but often those cultural groups are “others” and “elsewhere”. However, it is also valuable to look inward to see the interaction of mathematics and one’s own culture. An assignment in a graduate course offers this opportunity to students. The assignment is to find an area of the student’s personal “culture” (sometimes defined rather broadly) and find its use of mathematics. Students are asked to write about (a) the cultural area; (b) how they are personally tied to it; and (c) how and where it uses mathematics. In addition to the paper, students make an oral presentation. Thus, all students learn (often surprising) aspects of their classmates’ non-professional life, and the presenter digs into areas of family and heritage that may not have been reviewed before. Since all students are classroom mathematics teachers, finding their own cultural mathematics is not only enlightening for themselves, but also offers opportunities to include new mathematics applications in their teaching. This paper includes much personal background that led to this assignment and is a report on more than a decade of using it, including brief student examples.

It is well accepted that the home learning environment impacts school performance; however, much of the previous research has focused on preschool children. This exploratory study used an online, Qualtrics survey to ask parents (n = 177) of elementary students about the home learning environment. Our research questions addressed (1) the amount of time children spend on mathematics, reading, written language, and science at home, and differences by subject and/or grade; (2) parental beliefs about the importance of engaging in home learning activities in each of the four subjects; (3) parental confidence in supporting each of the four academic subjects; (4) parental and child enjoyment of the four academic subjects; and (5) who (parents, child, or teacher) initiated home learning activities in the different subject areas. The results indicated that elementary school-age children were engaged in reading, mathematics, science, and written language activities at home; however, the most time was spent on reading activities. Parents reported viewing engagement and assistance with academically related activities at home as important; however, they were more confident assisting with reading and written language than mathematics or science. Strong associations were noted between parental enjoyment of a subject and their confidence in assisting their child. Overall, teachers initiated more activities for older children and were more likely to initiate mathematics activities. When children initiated an activity, it was typically reading related. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The easiness by which we use language to communicate with others and to interpret what others say leads us to believe that language is transparent and of immediate comprehension. Linguistic studies, however, show that such transparency is illusory since the mother language is rife with indeterminations, ambiguities and dual meanings. Such reflections become even more important when we consider the classroom and the interactions that take place through language. This is because in school communication, the differences between the subjects involved, as long as mother language and specific knowledge are concerned, are part and parcel of every day situations. Therefore, it is important for the Math teacher to listen to the students and leave them at ease to expound their doubts and formulate their questions. Grounded on the results of research in mathematical education field, the objective of this paper is to discuss whether the communication which takes place in the classroom between the subjects in the educational process by means of language favors or not the building of mathematical knowledge by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role that language plays in the teaching and learning of mathematics is at the forefront of current literature in mathematics education. In this paper, I give particular attention to the manner in which teachers and students engage in the exploration of mathematical concepts and procedures with the goal of revealing how language impacts students’ learning. Through a series of examples of language commonly used in the mathematics classroom, I address specific issues pertaining to language used to describe mathematical processes, to read and interpret notation, and to define mathematical terms. Considering that communication is a key factor in the building of understanding, it is hoped that these examples will motivate teachers to examine and to adapt their own practices in order to cultivate productive and meaningful mathematical discourse in their classrooms.