Pre-Service Teachers' Definitions of Academic and Mathematical Academic Language

Presenter Information

Lori Ferguson, Cedarville UniversityFollow
Shelly Sheats Harkness, University of CincinnatiFollow

Abstract

This qualitative study focuses on pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) constructions of academic and mathematical academic language. The PSTs in two distinct programs, the Middle Childhood Mathematics Teacher Education Program (MCMTEP) and the Early Childhood Teacher Education Program (ECTEP), completed a written survey and defined both terms. Using literature, working definitions for academic and mathematical academic language were written and then used to develop codes of “sophisticated,” “under construction,” and “fragile” to categorize the PSTs’ definitions. Based on the findings, there exists a need to deepen PSTs understandings of both academic and mathematical academic language through possible changes in the programs.

Recommended Citation

Ferguson, Lori and Harkness, Shelly Sheats (2017) "Pre-Service Teachers' Definitions of Academic and Mathematical Academic Language," Ohio Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 31: No. 1, Article 10.
Available at: https://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/ojte/vol31/iss1/10