From One Language to Another: A Semiotic Interpretation of the Translation of Mathematical Words

Abstract

The teaching and learning of Primary school mathematics in Malta involves the use of code-switching between the local language Maltese, and English. Mathematical terms themselves are usually retained in English and teachers may use various strategies to share the meaning of these words with their pupils. One strategy that may be used in a bilingual situation is translation @om one language to another. In this paper I explore how a teacher used this strategy to teach her 7 to 8-year-old pupils mathematical vocabulary related to the topic 'Mney and Shopping'. While Maltese equivalents for these words exist, it is the English versions that form part of the school mathematics register. I develop a semiotic model where a mathematical word is considered to be a sign, and the process of translation is viewed as a chain ofsignzjkution from one language to another.

The role of mother tongue literacy in language learning and mathematical learning: is there a multilingual benefit for both?

“…Research in mathematics education has been chiefly concerned with the use of language within the classroom context and in testing (Abedi & Lord, 2001;Bunyi, 1997;Chitera, 2012) or in the usefulness of translating concepts across languages (Farrugia, 2003) to enhance student's learning. Similarly to language learning research, variables such as low SES and parental education have been confirmed as key variables associated with the poor performance of immigrant children and adolescents (Abedi & Lord, 2001;Hattie, 2009;Roberts & Bryant, 2011;Schnepf, 2007) within the school context.…”

Atribuição de significado em modelagem matemática nos anos iniciais

“…A consideração de que uma sequência de triângulos epistemológicos pode sinalizar o desenvolvimento de interpretações de um aluno (Steinbring, 2005) ganha espaço nos trabalhos de Farrugia (2007) e Veronez (2013). Farrugia (2007) se utiliza do modelo semiótico (triângulo epistemológico) para analisar como as crianças lidam com os conceitos de multiplicação e divisão. A autora aponta que o conceito de multiplicação foi sendo alterado pelas crianças e ganhando significado; elas conseguiram identificar a multiplicação como somas sucessivas com parcelas iguais e escrever, por exemplo, 3 +3 +3 + 3 como sendo igual a 4 x 3.…”

“…Por outro lado, ela chama atenção para o fato de as crianças não procederem de forma análoga para o conceito de divisão. Farrugia (2007), portanto, pondera que é o contexto de referência que dá suporte para o processo de construção de significado aos objetos matemáticos.…”