Trialoguing about engaging with communication and language in relation to mathematics and its education

Abstract

This is our introduction to the series of eight articles in the first part of the double special issue on the challenges of ‘Engaging with communication and language in relation to mathematics and its education’. In the current article, we think together about ‘communication’ and ‘language’ in relation to mathematics and its education, by turning to reflections and examples from our decades of work as researchers and teacher educators, and in response to the articles in this first part. Following the preamble, most reflections are presented in the form of a fresh trialogue, through which we share some perspectives and anticipate several distinct approaches to communication and to language in contexts of mathematics teaching, learning and teacher education. In the epilogue, we concentrate on some of the reasons for reading the papers in this first part and the coming papers in the second part of the special issue