something other than what they are. For example, in our culture a cross drawn on a
card or paper may first become associated with a kiss (on a birthday card or letter) but:- within our written system it is the letter ‘x’ which occurs in words like box and
has a particular sound attached to it - it can be found on a treasure map to mark where treasure is buried
- it is a warning symbol on a bottle of bleach.
At school teachers may use the symbol ‘x’:- to denote a wrong answer
• Mathematics as a foreign language
- to signify an ‘as yet’ unknown number in algebra.
To confuse matters further, when a ‘+’ (the same form but rotated) is used, it carries
other meanings.
Outside education settings ‘+’ is used:- on remote controls for video players
- as a symbol for a church on a map
- as the symbol for an ambulance or hospital.
See also Adrian’s explanations of his ‘+’ symbols, p. 130.
To bring the interpretation of this symbol up to date, when used in text messaging
‘+’ is used as an abbreviated form of ‘and’.
It is no wonder that young children find it difficult to navigate the various written
symbol systems. Moreover, whilst spoken language can be ambiguous – dependent
on whether it is used in a natural context or a specifically mathematical one – it
appears that written (or graphical) symbols may be even more so. Twenty-first
century culture draws heavily on the visual impact of advertising, logos, photo-
graphs, film, cartoons, packaging and other visual images, and there is every indica-
tion that this is a significant feature of young children’s culture. There is no doubt
that such graphics heavily influence young children. In one nursery that I visited,
children of 2½–3 years were ‘reading’ the names on various plastic bags from super-
markets with ease by recognising the store’s logo, in the context of their supermar-
ket role-play. As some parents will testify, their young children may also be
influenced by the brand names or logos on clothes, shoes and even wrapping on
food, where children’s television characters ‘sell’ items such as bananas and cheese.
Children’s difficulties with mathematical symbols
Our central argument is that children come to make their own sense of abstract
symbols through using their own marks and constructing their own meaning.
However, Deloache, Uttal and Pierroutsakes (1998, p. 325) point out that ‘no symbol
system is fully transparent’.. Letters of the alphabet and numerals, for example, ‘have
no inherent content or meaning, but convey information when combined in sys-Bridging the gap between home and school mathematics 738657part 1b.qxd 04/07/2006 18:11 Page 73