Teaching Children How to Use Language to Solve Maths Problems

Abstract

It is often claimed that working and talking with partners while carrying out maths activities is beneficial to students' learning and the development of their mathematical understanding. However, observational research has shown that primary school children often do not work productively in group-based classroom activities, with the implication that they lack the necessary skills to manage their joint activity. The research we describe investigated these issues and also explored the role of the teacher in guiding the development of children's skills in using language as a tool for reasoning. It involved an interventional teaching programme called Thinking Together, designed to enable children to talk and reason together effectively. The results obtained indicate that children can be enabled to use talk more effectively as a tool for reasoning; and that talk-based group activities can help the development of individuals' mathematical reasoning, understanding and problem-solving. The results also encourage the view that the teacher of mathematics can play an important role in the development of children's awareness and use of language as a tool for reasoning.We suggest some ways that this role can be carried out most effectively.

The importance of dialogic processes to conceptual development in mathematics

“…This way of talking taken as a whole was understood as a Vygotskian tool supporting social cognition. Studies of the impact of Exploratory Talk suggest that it is effective in improving children's reasoning and problem solving (e.g., Mercer & Sams, 2006;Monaghan, 2005). In a recent paper Mercer (2013) summarises the causal processes that might be behind the link between Exploratory Talk and problem solving as "appropriation, co-construction and transformation".…”

The role of exploratory talk in classroom search engine tasks

“…This example is particularly interesting because the 14 pair is not prepared to simply take at face value that Marie Curie is a good role model, 15 indicating some awareness that understanding why someone is a good role model is 16 important. A frequent term tying together this group's discourse was "why" -a term 17 used with reference to why information was good.…”

Which cognitive processes support learning during small-group discussion? The role of providing explanations and listening to others

“…Exploratory talk is a constructive form of collaborative communication, in which participants reach consensus by presenting and listening to carefully balanced arguments and counterarguments (Mercer 1996). Training children to use this form of talk has been found to have a positive effect on their learning (Mercer and Sams 2006;Mercer et al 2004).…”