Between the Conceptual and the Signified: How Language Changes when Using Dynamic Geometry Software for Construction Tasks

Abstract

Spoken and written language change when students (age 14–15) work with digital tools in the mathematics classroom. The digital tool not only offers new experiences and actions that directly influence language, but also provides lexical expressions such as buttons or technical expressions that students use. This article studies language used in the mathematics classroom empirically when working with dynamic geometry software (DGS), especially in the context of geometrical constructions. The results show the variety of different lexical phenomena in the students’ use of language. The use of such lexical expressions also mirrors the use of the digital tool itself. Qualitative analysis of the videotaped paired task-based clinical interviews shows both obstacles and potentials of the lexical expressions that students use when working with dynamic geometry software.