Mathematical Discourse of a Middle School and a Senior Prospective Mathematics Teacher

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze mathematical discourse of a senior prospective teacher who is educated about mathematical communication and of an experienced middle school mathematics teacher. Besides, the aim was to shed light on future research studies about the effects of education about mathematical communication and teaching experience on mathematical discourse and discourse analysis. The study was designed as a phenomenological study. In the process of data collection, a teaching scenario was developed by the researchers. Afterwards, clinical interviews and lesson observations were conducted with the participants. The participants of this study were a middle school mathematics teacher who has ten years of experience in teaching and a senior prospective teacher. Data were analyzed qualitatively by using focal analysis technique and data collected from clinical interviews were analyzed by using content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the participants’ mathematical discourse and their discourse analysis were quite different from each other.