Thinking About Math Textbooks

Prior to reading the paper written by David Wagner and Beth Herbel-Eisenmann, I never really thought about how the choice of words used in math textbooks (such as first person pronouns) could possibly have an effect on the outcome of students' learning.

Overall, I think the authors' model of textbook evaluation and the idea of raising "critical language awareness" provide a new perspective to math teachers, and may even influence how teachers approach their own communications with students. My school advisor during my short practicum also mentioned something similar: how students engage with your class depends on the words you use. Although this was referring to general classroom management, I still agree with the notion that what the students read or hear is extremely important to how they learn.

One thing to take into consideration is that effective usage of vocabulary and the "contextualization" of math at first glance could only work to a certain extent because for students who already have some understanding and interest in math, this kind of detail would escape them. Moreover, students' abilities to subconsciously receive and analyze diction may differ, and maybe not all will prefer the same linguistic choice used in textbooks.

Therefore, textbooks for the most part would be more helpful if they are written to recognize the students' own personal experiences and their relationship to math. Whether the learning outcome can be enhanced can only be measured by how much the students are interested in the material presented.