Språket inom matematiken
En studie om vikten av det svenska språkets betydelse för matematikundervisningen
Language and conceptual developmentInterplay-CommunicationSpråk? och begreppsutvecklingSamspel-Kommunikation-Utveckling
Sweden is a multicultural country and because of this the Swedish school-system should be adapted so that all pupils can develop their linguistic skills so that they can participate andunderstand the education. By using scientific work from other researchers and my own experiences from a general point of view, I noticed that pupils with foreign origin perform less good in mathematics than pupils with Swedish origin, in the Swedish education system.The purpose of this research is to find out if communication and interplay between the pupils makes it easier for them to understand mathematics and its? concepts. My research involves acertain school class were all pupils have another etnicity then the Swedish one. My aim was to find out if the pupils reached the knowledge-goals for mathematics in the third grade. Especially in the areas of solution solving and the understanding of mathematical texts. I wanted to find out if communication and interplay between the pupils lead to increasedprogress in the Swedish language and increased understanding of mathematical texts. I also examined what possibilities the pupils have to absorb and understand the education and how favourable the conditions are in their teaching process. My starting points were Vygotskijs? sociocultural perspective. The main research questions were:Is the language a barrier for the pupils in my research group when they develop their mathematical knowledge?Which approach may enhance the pupils knowledge in mathematics?The research is based on interviews with the teacher and observations of the pupils during mathematic lessons. With the help of the empirical material I wanted to increase myunderstanding about the process of learning and development in the class and about how the teacher labours and reflects around the situation. She practiced silent and individual studies in the class. The result of this research showed that the pupils were not benefited by the teachersmethods and that they did not reach the main goals in Swedish and mathematics for the earlier years in Swedish compulsory school. The reason to this result is mainly that language and learning go hand in hand and that mathematics requires a good vocabulary and good reading comprehension.