University of California, Santa Cruz
Education
To address issues of language in mathematics education, researchers need to use theoretical perspectives that integrate current views of mathematics learning and teaching with current views on language, discourse, bilingualism, and second... more
This article examines a classroom discussion of multiple interpretations of the scales on two distance versus time graphs. The analysis describes how two students and a teacher used multiple meanings for phrases of the form “I went by”... more
This article reviews two sets of research studies from outside of mathematics education to consider how they may be relevant to the study of bilingual mathematics learners using two languages. The first set of studies is psycholinguistics... more
This case study uses a sociocultural perspective and the concept of appropriation (Newman, Griffin and Cole, 1989; Rogoff, 1990) to describe how a student learned to work with linear functions. The analysis describes in detail the impact... more
My aim in this article is to explore 3 perspectives on bilingual mathematics learners and to consider how a situated and sociocultural perspective can inform work in this area. The 1st perspective focuses on acquisition of vocabulary, the... more
This article uses an evolutionary perspective of conceptual change to consider in detail a conception in the domain of linear functions. The analysis focuses on the nature of students' use of the x-intercept in equations of the form y =... more
In this article, I describe the refinement of a conception in the domain of linear functions, the use of the x-intercept in equations of the form y = mx + b, to illustrate the resources used by students to refine a conception. The... more
This study examines mathematics learning in the context of peer discussions by focusing on students' descriptions of lines graphed on a computer screen. The article describes how these discussions provided a rich context for negotiating... more