Applying a new framework of connections between mathematical symbols and natural language

Abstract

A reader of mathematical text must often switch between reading mathematical symbols and reading words. In this study, five different categories of structural connections between symbols and language, which invite such switches, are presented in a framework. The framework was applied in a study of Swedish mathematics textbooks, where 180 randomly selected pages from different educational stages were analyzed. The results showed a significant change in communication patterns as students progress through school. From a predomination of connections based on proximity found in year two, there is a gradual change to a predomination of symbols interwoven in sentences in year eight. Furthermore, more qualitative investigations of the different connections complemented the quantification, both through further explanations of the quantitative results, and through more examples of differences in communication patterns. The implications for readers of mathematics texts are discussed.