Learning mathematics vocabulary: Potential pitfalls and instructional strategies

o your students speak mathematics, or do they think that the mathematics classroom is another country where they must use a foreign language? Are they sometimes confused or overwhelmed by new vocabulary? Do they misuse words, forget key terms, or ignore important distinctions between words? Do they ask, “Where did anyone ever get a strange word like asymptote? ” or “I forget, is twelve a factor or a multiple of twenty-four?” The language of mathematics is an important component of our instruction. In fact, it plays at least three crucial roles in our classrooms: • We teach through the medium of language. It is our major means of communication. • Students build understanding as they process ideas through language. • We diagnose and assess students ’ understanding by listening to their oral communication and by reading their mathematical writings. Yet language is often a challenge for students. As teachers, we sometimes forget that the words and phrases that are familiar to us are foreign to our students. Students need to master this language if they are to read, understand, and discuss mathe-matical ideas. Unlike common English—which stu-dents hear, see, and use daily in reading, watching television, conversation, and elsewhere—the lan-guage of mathematics is limited largely to school. Consequently, we need to be sensitive to many issues related to the language of mathematics and students ’ growing fluency with it. This article focuses on just one aspect of lan-guage, vocabulary, with the belief that the fluent use of terminology is a necessary, albeit not suffi-cient, condition for overall mathematics achieve-ment. First, we analyze some difficulties that stu-dents encounter in learning mathematical language. This analysis attempts to clarify why some terms and phrases are hurdles for our stu-dents. Then we suggest teaching strategies that address these difficulties