Language use, mathematical visualizations, and children with language impairments

Elke Söbbeke (1)

1 University of Paderborn

This article presents a first approach and theoretical foundation for a new research project. It focuses on the role of language in the process of communication about structures and relations in mathematical visualizations. Mathematical knowledge is abstract in most cases. Using means of visualization is indispensable for speaking with children about the abstract mathematical concepts. Against this background language is seen as an important tool in the construction of knowledge. But this raises the question, which features of language in children with specific language impairments (SLI) pose a challenge for verbalizing abstract structures. The interest in research relates to the question how students with SLI manage to communicate about the embodied structures in mathematical means of visualization.

Mots clés: Means of visualization; communication; structures; language impairments

Domaines: Education; Histoire et perspectives sur les mathématiques [math.HO]

Elke Söbbeke. Language use, mathematical visualizations, and children with language impairments. CERME 9 - Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Education; ERME, Feb 2015, Prague, Czech Republic. pp.1497-1502. ⟨hal-01287789⟩