Analysis of the reflexivity between languaging and children's construction of concepts of ten

Marcela D Perlwitz, Purdue University

Abstract

This study considers language as an orienting activity that includes written and verbal language, graphic representations, and any other symbols that can support the description of an idea or a concept. This notion attributes a role to language that goes beyond that of facilitating communication to include the elaboration of one's cognitive domain in the very process of languaging. Changes in children's conceptualization of ten and the corresponding changes in the ways of symbolizing and talking about ten were analyzed in a second-grade classroom that had established an inquiry approach to mathematics instruction. That is, the teacher did not instruct students on procedures but expected them to solve problems in personally meaningful ways. The classroom social organization included small group work of pairs of children followed by teacher-led whole class discussions. The whole class discussions and the small group work of two pairs of children were videotaped and qualitatively analyzed. A total of 13 lessons were documented which included the solution to money-related tasks with the use of coins. In order to further document children's cognitive advances, clinical interviews of the case study children were conducted prior to and at the end of the observation a period. The analysis indicates that the linguistic activity of individual children and the group influenced children's conceptualization of ten. Conversely, it was found that children's cognitive advances influenced the linguistic activity of individual children and the group. These findings lend support to the notion that languaging and cognitive development are reflexive processes.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Mathematics education|Educational psychology

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