Language and Literacy in the Math Area - Report Example

Language and Literacy in the Math Area Introduction Math teachers have understood that there will always be literacy challenges, and that reading and writing literacy challenges pose an issue with our profession. If a student is unable to read and write, then students will have difficulty in solving mathematical problems, because the student will have difficulty reading the mathematical textbook, will be unable to resolve word problems, and will have difficulties understanding symbols and fundamental mathematical terms. Add to this are the challenges that are inherent in a technologically advanced society. Students need to know how to maneuver around in new technology, and how to understand what is real on the Internet and what is not, and overall literacy plays a part in that as well. As math teachers, therefore, it should be part of our duties to ensure that our students have writing and reading practice in our classrooms. Encouraging students to keep math journals and giving students assignments whereby they explain what they like about math and why, are just two ways that teachers can encourage writing and literacy in the math classroom. Of course, there are always going to be other challenges in literacy, including the fact that not all students learn at the same rate because of learning disabilities, and there are also sociocultural issues, but math teachers must still make the effort to ensure that all students have reading and writing literacy. Literacy Challenges Today In the past, literacy would simply be defined as the ability to read and do basic math problems. However, because the world is changing, the definition of literacy is changing along with it. Now, as Conley (2008) notes, new technology brings with it new definition and challenges regarding literacy. Literacy now means that an individual must know how to seek out information by using technology. They also must know how to solve problems, by locating important information to solve these problems. Moreover, on the Internet, students must know how to tell accurate information from inaccurate information, which means that they have to synthesize and communicate important information. Conley (2008) also states that, because the nature of technology is constantly changing, the children need to know how to adapt to continuous change. The technology of today is not going to be the technology of tomorrow, therefore the ability to adapt to tomorrow’s technology will be key to survival in today’s world. This concept is related to the concept of critical literacy (Connecting Practice and Researc: Critical Literacy Guide). Critical literacy means the ability to see beyond the material, and the ability to ask hard questions about the material. Critical literacy is marked by the following principles - that the individuals can challenge assumptions and values which are commonly held; the individual may be able to explore multiple perceptions; that the individual may be able to examine different relationships, and be able to know when there is a difference in power in those relationships; and that the individual has the ability to reflect upon and use literacy for social justice (Connecting Practice and Research: Critical Literacy Guide). This kind of critical thinking is also important in today’s world, because individuals who have the ability to think critically like this also would have the ability to adapt to a changing technological world. There are also different kinds of academic literacy, according to Baumann & Gravas (2010). For instance, one can approach academic literacy from a socio-cultural perspective.This means that, in addition to looking at the academic literacy, in and of itself, one can also look at the social circumstances that surround the student – the social context of the learning, the community around the student, and other contexts that affect the ability of the student to learn. What this would mean is that it is not only important for a student to be able to read and write, but also to negotiate his or her social environment. This is especially important, as the social environment surrounding a student often is one of the reasons why he or she has problems with learning in the first place. Perhaps the child has low self-esteem and is not able to connect with other students in his or her class. This would affect the child’s learning ability, because the child may be hesitant to speak up in class, and also may be so filled with worry about the other kids that this interferes with the learning process. Helping a child negotiate his or her environment is one kind of literacy that might help the child with the other kind of literacy, which means the ability to learn. This probably is one of the most important things that a teacher can do, with regards to literacy, which is to make sure that all students have a social context that will enable them to learn, and, if students do not have this, the teacher should have the ability to help the student with attaining this. In my area of focus, which his math, language and literacy is very important. One of the things that is important is that student have the vocabulary for math (Franz, 2009). In other words, students need to know some basic concepts, such as angle measure, and function. They also need to know symbols - such as the symbol for less than, and the symbol for degree. Math has a language all its own, and a student must first be fluent in this language before the student can be successful in learning the mathematical concepts. There is also an issue with the explanatory text in the mathematical textbooks – they must be able to read these texts, because these texts explain how to solve mathematical problems. There is also the issue of the word problems themselves. Word problems are a major part of mathematics education. Therefore, it is important that a student be proficient in reading and writing, otherwise these problems will be too difficult for the student to master. It is difficult enough to try to resolve the problems themselves, without the student also worrying because he or she cannot read the problem. The above describes how reading and writing literacy is important in the math context. There also the issue of mathematical literacy, in and of itself (Franz, 2009). Students need to, according to Franz (2009), be able to “organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication; communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teacher, and others; analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and stategies of others; and use the language of mathematics to express mathematical ideas precisely” (p. 4). The need for literacy in the mathematical context creates a possibility to teach reading and writing through the math class. According to Burns (1995), because student reading and writing literacy is so important, this gives an opportunity to go ahead and incorporate these lessons into the math class. Burns (1995) recommends that math teachers encourage students to write in their journals or logs. These journals and logs are for the student to keep track of what they are doing in their math class, but they have the added bonus of encouraging the students to write as well. She also recommends that students be given assignments where they write out mathematical essays. This would be the student writing about some mathematical concept that he or she is learning in class. She gave an example – she asks her students to write about the concept of “equally likely,” asking the students what this means. A third example that she gave is that math teachers may ask their students to write about the learning process – for instance, math students may write about what they learned in class, or what was their favorite concept or assignment and why. By giving math students the chance to write in the math classes, this will not only strengthen their knowledge of the concepts, but it will also strengthen their overall writing and reading literacy. Therefore, the fact that reading and writing literacy is important when learning math, gives math teachers the opportunity to incorporate these lessons in the classroom. There are a multitude of issues that might prevent a student from learning proficient reading and writing. According to Conley (2008), students may struggle because they have inadequate speech and language development. Some students may not be able to distinguish between different speech sounds, so they cannot connect the letters and sounds to the different words. A student may also have dyslexia – which means that they have problems with perception of language, letters and words. They might see the words in reverse, which is the most commonly-known form of dylexia. Another problem, according to Conley (2008), is that the student may be inexperienced with reading and writing, because the student has always struggled with this. The student may also have cultural issues. This means that a student may read certain words, but if this is a non-native speaker, the student may not understand the words – for instance, Conley (2008) states that the concept of “kite” and “piggy bank” may not be understood by a non-native speaker. Other issues for students may be that they live in poverty, and that some students simply are not motivated. Conclusion Students have a variety of challenges in today’s world. They have to keep up with technology, and they have to keep up with social challenges. Moreover, in the area of mathematics, students might have special problems if the student is illiterate. Because of these challenges, and the fact that not every student has equal learning opportunities, math teachers should make sure that they incorporate reading and writing into the mathematical curriculum. Bibliography Baumann, James & Michael Grave. “What Is Academic Vocabulary?” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54.1 (2010): 4-12. Burns, Marilyn. “Writing in math class? Absolutely!” Instructor Magazine April 1995: 40- 47. Print. Conley, Mark. Content Area Literacy: Learners in Context. New York: Pearson, 2008. Franz, Dana. “Supporting Struggling Readers in Mathematics Education,” Apex Learning June 2009: 1-8. Online. National Institute for Literacy. “What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy.” National Institute for Literacy, 2007. Print. Read More