"Learning of language of mathematics is essential for proper communication of mathematics in the classroom. Only those teachers who are well versed with the language of mathematics take out fear from the minds of students in doing word-sum in general and applied mathematics," Said Jaipur-based educator and researcher at International Children’s Science and Mathematics Festival held in, 2014.
According to Dr Kishore, both science and mathematics can be learnt better through music, dance and kinesthetics. He was also of view that ath can be learnt better, if deconstruct knowledge and reconstruct in new format and in math, it can be done through mathimatization of language and vice-versa. (see TOI news clipping).
He also shared a document on 'match sticks mathematics' to connect language of math and visual depiction of through arraignment of sticks (see news clipping of U4U portal.
Another article at U4U is being reproduced as follows.
TITLE: PAY ATTENTION TO MATHEMATIZATION OF LANGUAGE TO MAKE MATHEMATICS LEARNING EFFECTIVE AND GENDER INCLUSIVE: MATHEMATICS EDUCATOR
Author: Lalit Kishore
Original source: U4U Voice-2014
Reproduced at: slideshare.net during April 2020 – The Month of Mathematics Awareness
“Mathematical language becomes difficult to understand by students if attention is not paid right from grade one. Unfortunately in an environment that is promoting rule-method of learning maths or ‘Parrot Maths’, it has been found that most students are unable to solve word-problems and applied mathematics problems,” said mathematics educator Dr. Lalit Kishore at the recently concluded three-day International Children’s Science and Mathematics Festival (November 13-15, 2014) in Vishakhapatnam hosted by Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan .
Describing the language of mathematics as a system used by students of mathematics and mathematicians to communicate mathematical ideas among themselves, he said that this language consists of a substrate of some natural language along with technical terms and grammatical conventions that are peculiar to mathematical discourse. According to him, mathematical language is a system of words and symbols used in the study of mathematics and its communication.
He stressed that in teacher training programmes and during classroom teaching of mathematics due attention needs to be paid to learn at the mastery level vocabulary of symbols or words; mathematical grammar consisting of rules of how these symbols may be used, and a range of meanings that can be communicated with standard symbols.
The inappropriate mathematical language use; ignoring the vocabulary of mathematics; lack of emphasis on reading and writing of mathematics and skipping the process of meaning making of formulae and notation of mathematics can lead to disinterest in mathematics by students and more so by the girls students.
“Like any other profession, mathematics also has its own brand of technical terminology. In some cases, a word in general usage has a different and specific meaning within mathematics—examples are group, ring, field, category, term, and factor,” he exemplified. Also, attention was drawn to the stock phrases in mathematics, used with specific meanings, such as ‘if and only if’, ‘necessary and sufficient’ and ‘without loss of generality’, he said. Before beginning a lesson the mathematics language with some vocabulary building was needed to be stresses along with reading and writing exercises, he suggested.
He concluded that that mathematization of language can lead to make learning of mathematics effective and gender inclusive.
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