Abstract: The role language plays in teaching and learning of mathematics has been a matter of enquiry for more than 4 decades now. The first paper addressing this issue appeared in the year 1979 in Educational Studies in Mathematics. Some of the early studies on language and mathematics education examined bilingual/ language minority students performance in mathematics from a deficit perspective. However, recent classroom studies focusing on socio-cultural perspectives argue that minoritized languages rather than being a barrier can in fact be a resource for learning mathematics. Though there is very little research on mathematics education in India, the work of NGOs such as Eklavya have engaged with the language issue in the mid 80s.
Home »