Language in Action - SFL Theory across Contexts - María Estela Brisk
4. A Geometry Teacher’s Actions for Engaging Students in Mathematizing from Real-World Contexts: A Linguistic Analysis
Language in Action - SFL Theory across Contexts - María Estela Brisk
Gloriana Gonzalez [+]
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Description
I share the case of a geometry teacher’s work that encourages literacy practices to read a diagram during a problem-based lesson. Using a problem situated in the context of the visual arts, the teacher connected students’ understanding of the problem’s context with mathematical ideas. During the lesson summary, the teacher helped students to translate their work with the diagram into reasoned conjectures. I used Systemic Functional Linguistics to unpack the complexities of mathematics classroom talk, including lexical relations, processes, participants, and circumstances and conjunctive relations. The study exemplifies how linguistic analysis can help researchers to identify teaching actions for supporting students’ engagement in mathematizing with implications for teacher education.