This volume discusses semiotics in mathematics education as an activity with a formal sign system, in which each sign represents something else. Theories presented by Saussure, Peirce, Vygotsky and other writers on semiotics are summarized in their relevance to the teaching and learning of mathematics. The significance of signs for mathematics education lies in their ubiquitous use in every branch of mathematics. Such use involves seeing the general in the particular, a process that is not always clear to learners. Therefore, in several traditional frameworks, semiotics has the potential to serve as a powerful conceptual lens in investigating diverse topics in mathematics education research. Topics that are implicated include (but are not limited to): the birth of signs; embodiment, gestures and artifacts; segmentation and communicative fields; cultural mediation; social semiotics; linguistic theories; chains of signification; semiotic bundles; relationships among various sign systems; intersubjectivity; diagrammatic and inferential reasoning; and semiotics as the focus of innovative learning and teaching materials.

This book discusses a significant area of mathematics education research in the last two decades and presents the types of semiotic theories that are employed in mathematics education. Following on the summary of significant issues presented in the Topical Survey, Semiotics in Mathematics Education, this book not only introduces readers to semiotics as the science of signs, but it also elaborates on issues that were highlighted in the Topical Survey. In addition to an introduction and a closing chapter, it presents 17 chapters based on presentations from Topic Study Group 54 at the ICME-13 (13th International Congress on Mathematical Education). The chapters are divided into four major sections, each of which has a distinct focus. After a brief introduction, each section starts with a chapter or chapters of a theoretical nature, followed by others that highlight the significance and usefulness of the relevant theory in empirical research.

Semiotics as a Tool for Learning Mathematics is a collection of ten theoretical and empirical chapters, from researchers all over the world, who are interested in semiotic notions and their practical uses in mathematics classrooms. Collectively, they present a semiotic contribution to enhance pedagogical aspects both for the teaching of school mathematics and for the preparation of pre-service teachers. This enhancement involves the use of diagrams to visualize implicit or explicit mathematical relations and the use of mathematical discourse to facilitate the emergence of inferential reasoning in the process of argumentation. It will also facilitate the construction of proofs and solutions of mathematical problems as well as the progressive construction of mathematical conceptions that, eventually, will approximate the concept(s) encoded in mathematical symbols. These symbols hinge not only of mental operations but also on indexical and iconic aspects; aspects which often are not taken into account when working on the meaning of mathematical symbols. For such an enhancement to happen, it is necessary to transform basic notions of semiotic theories to make them usable for mathematics education. In addition, it is also necessary to back theoretical claims with empirical data. This anthology attempts to deal with such a conjunction. Overall, this book can be used as a theoretical basis for further semiotic considerations as well as for the design of different ways of teaching mathematical concepts.

In this book, Raymond Duval shows how his theory of registers of semiotic representation can be used as a tool to analyze the cognitive processes through which students develop mathematical thinking. To Duval, the analysis of mathematical knowledge is in its essence the analysis of the cognitive synergy between different kinds of semiotic representation registers, because the mathematical way of thinking and working is based on transformations of semiotic representations into others. Based on this assumption, he proposes the use of semiotics to identify and develop the specific cognitive processes required to the acquisition of mathematical knowledge. In this volume he presents a method to do so, addressing the following questions: • How to situate the registers of representation regarding the other semiotic “theories” • Why use a semio-cognitive analysis of the mathematical activity to teach mathematics • How to distinguish the different types of registers • How to organize learning tasks and activities which take into account the registers of representation • How to make an analysis of the students’ production in terms of registers Building upon the contributions he first presented in his classic book Sémiosis et pensée humaine, in this volume Duval focuses less on theoretical issues and more on how his theory can be used both as a tool for analysis and a working method to help mathematics teachers apply semiotics to their everyday work. He also dedicates a complete chapter to show how his theory can be applied as a new strategy to teach geometry. “Understanding the Mathematical Way of Thinking – The Registers of Semiotic Representations is an essential work for mathematics educators and mathematics teachers who look for an introduction to Raymond Duval’s cognitive theory of semiotic registers of representation, making it possible for them to see and teach mathematics with fresh eyes.” Professor Tânia M. M. Campos, PHD.

The advancement of a scientific discipline depends not only on the "big heroes" of a discipline, but also on a community’s ability to reflect on what has been done in the past and what should be done in the future. This volume combines perspectives on both. It celebrates the merits of Michael Otte as one of the most important founding fathers of mathematics education by bringing together all the new and fascinating perspectives created through his career as a bridge builder in the field of interdisciplinary research and cooperation. The perspectives elaborated here are for the greatest part motivated by the impressing variety of Otte’s thoughts; however, the idea is not to look back, but to find out where the research agenda might lead us in the future. This volume provides new sources of knowledge based on Michael Otte’s fundamental insight that understanding the problems of mathematics education – how to teach, how to learn, how to communicate, how to do, and how to represent mathematics – depends on means, mainly philosophical and semiotic, that have to be created first of all, and to be reflected from the perspectives of a multitude of diverse disciplines.

Mathematics education research routinely receives the attention of educators, mathematicians, linguists, psychologists, anthropologists, and others. In this volume, the induction of students into mathematical meaning-making is studied through the prism of these several disciplines. What unites all such approaches to pedagogy and to the assessment of pegagogy- and to the subject matter of mathematics itself - is semiotics. Myrdene Anderson teaches at Purdue University, Adalira Saenz-Ludlow teaches at the U of North Carolina, Shea Zetlweger is former chair at Mount Union College, Ohio, Victor V. Cifarelli teaches at the U. ol North Carolina.

Current interest in semiotics is undoubtedly related to our increasing awareness that our manners of thinking and acting in our world are deeply indebted to a variety of signs and sign systems (language included) that surround us.

This book takes a theoretical perspective on the study of school algebra, in which both semiotics and history occur. The Methodological design allows for the interpretation of specific phenomena and the inclusion of evidence not addressed in more general treatments. The book gives priority to "meaning in use" over "formal meaning". These approaches and others of similar nature lead to a focus on competence rather than a user’s activity with mathematical language.

This book considers some of the outstanding questions regarding language and communication in the teaching and learning of mathematics – an established theme in mathematics education research, which is growing in prominence. Recent research has demonstrated the wide range of theoretical and methodological resources that can contribute to this area of study, including those drawing on cross-disciplinary perspectives influenced by, among others, sociology, psychology, linguistics, and semiotics. Examining language in its broadest sense to include all modes of communication, including visual and gestural as well as spoken and written modes, it features work presented and discussed in the Language and Communication topic study group (TSG 31) at the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13). A joint session with participants of the Mathematics Education in a Multilingual and Multicultural Environment topic study group (TSG 32) enhanced discussions, which are incorporated in elaborations included in this book. Discussing cross-cutting topics it appeals to readers from a wide range of disciplines, such as mathematics education and research methods in education, multilingualism, applied linguistics and beyond.

What does it mean to know mathematics? How does meaning in mathematics education connect to common sense or to the meaning of mathematics itself? How are meanings constructed and communicated and what are the dilemmas related to these processes? There are many answers to these questions, some of which might appear to be contradictory. Thus understanding the complexity of meaning in mathematics education is a matter of huge importance. There are twin directions in which discussions have developed—theoretical and practical—and this book seeks to move the debate forward along both dimensions while seeking to relate them where appropriate. A discussion of meaning can start from a theoretical examination of mathematics and how mathematicians over time have made sense of their work. However, from a more practical perspective, anybody involved in teaching mathematics is faced with the need to orchestrate the myriad of meanings derived from multiple sources that students develop of mathematical knowledge. This book presents a wide variety of theoretical reflections and research results about meaning in mathematics and mathematics education based on long-term and collective reflection by the group of authors as a whole. It is the outcome of the work of the BACOMET (BAsic COmponents of Mathematics Education for Teachers) group who spent several years deliberating on this topic. The ten chapters in this book, both separately and together, provide a substantial contribution to clarifying the complex issue of meaning in mathematics education. This book is of interest to researchers in mathematics education, graduate students of mathematics education, under graduate students in mathematics, secondary mathematics teachers and primary teachers with an interest in mathematics.