Mathematical literacy

    From our beginning enquiries into young children's 

mathematical representations, we realised that this was a

literacy, and that the children's thinking about graphical 

marks and signs for mathematics, was, in some ways, similar

to their early, emergent writing. Munn (and others) have also

argued that the functional use of signs  by children in

mathematical contexts is “essentially a literate strategy”

(1994, p. 13, emphasis added).  Yore, Pimm and Tuan (2007) point out that to be mathematically literate "involves fundamental literacy and the independent abilities to use mathematical thinking, construct understanding, and solve problems. Mathematics as human and social activity requires mathematical literacy to be functional and to prepare people to live, understand, and act critically in a modern, mathematised society" (p. 574).

      Tomasello (2003) argues that "we learn language by using language", the implication being that the more children freely use their own graphics to communicate their mathematical thinking, the more readily they will come to understand the (formal) abstract symbolic language of mathematics, and this has been borne out by our research (Worthington, 2021).

    The early beginnings of the graphical language of mathematics are complex, sometimes mysterious, very powerful - and so very easily missed! However, early childhood curricula rarely address young children's understanding of the written and represented aspects of mathematics, or how teachers and practitioners might support this important aspect of mathematics. 

    Whilst the OECD does not aim at describing a developmental theory, it highlights important issues that can be seen as fundamental in the course of children's mathematical progression:

        The ability to read, write, listen and speak a language is the most important tool through which

        human social activity is mediated [...] Analogously, considering mathematics as a language implies

        that students must learn the design features involved in mathematical discourse (the terms, facts,

        signs and symbols, procedures and skills). (OECD, 2003, p.26)

References

Hughes, M. (1986). Children and Number: Difficulties in learning mathematics. Basil Blackwell.

Munn, P. (1994). The early development of literacy and numeracy skills. European Early Childhood

Education Research Journal, 4(1), 5-18.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2003). The PISA 2003

assessment framework: Mathematics, reading, science and problem solving knowledge and skills.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2017). PISA for development

brief 9: How does PISA for development measure mathematical literacy?

Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Harvard University Press.

  Worthington, M. (2021). The emergence and development of young children’s personal mathematical inscriptions: The evolution of graphical signs explored through children’s spontaneous pretend play. [Doctoral Dissertation]. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. 

Yore, L.D., Pimm, D., & Tuan, H-L. (2007). The literacy component of mathematical and

scientific literacy. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 5(4), 559-589.