66.054 - Unpacking the Technical Vocabulary of Middle School Mathematics Teachers Internationally

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium presents and contrasts the lexicons of middle school mathematics teachers in Australia, China, Japan and Spain. Comparison of the lexicons reveals surprising emphases and silences in each lexicon. These emphases and silences reflect conceptions of education and the role of the mathematics teacher idiosyncratic to each country, otherwise concealed from an international research community restricted to English for the publication and sharing of its knowledge. One study reports the parallel professional lexicons of bilingual teachers. The professional lexicons available to middle school mathematics teachers in Australia, China, Japan and Spain reflect the pedagogical traditions of each community and demonstrate how their distinctive elements and structures can be made visible by comparison.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Research in Mathematics Education

Chair

• David J. Clarke, University of Melbourne

Papers

• The Australian Lexicon: Generic Rather Than Discipline-Specific - Carmel Mesiti, University of Melbourne; David J. Clarke, University of Melbourne

• The Chinese Lexicon: Interconnection of Terms and Practice - Cao Yiming, Beijing Normal University; Guowen Yu, Beijing Normal University

• The Japanese Lexicon: Embedding Values in Practice - Yoshinori Shimizu, University of Tsukuba; Yuka Funabashi, Nara University of Education

• The Catalan Lexicon: Teaching Mathematics in a Bilingual Setting - Javier Diez-Palomar, Universitat de Barcelona

Discussant

• Mark R. Wilson, University of California - Berkeley