Digital Commons Network^™

Co-Creation Of Classroom Language: Supporting Learners To Develop Expressions Of Uncertainty And Statistical Concepts, Jioo Nimkar, Nayanatara Ruth Gautham

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This qualitative study explored how Grade 4 students and the researcher co-created language to express statistical concepts in a multilingual Indian classroom during a week-long instructional sequence. The analysis draws on a situated socio-cultural perspective on language in mathematics. Students’ language progressed from simple claims to more refined and sophisticated expressions, enabling them to discuss central tendencies and distributions while acknowledging uncertainty. Co-created phrases such as āsapās reshā (the nearby line) not only supported communication but also deepened reasoning. The article also discusses what role scaffolding played in refining these informal resources.

Multimodal Interpretation Of Notation, Dave Hewitt, Jenni Ingram

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Challenges related to the teaching and learning of formal notation in school mathematics are widely documented, and specifically in relation to the underlying mathematical structures that the notation is intended to convey. In this article, we draw on embodied cognition to examine the interactions among three students working with the software Grid Algebra. Embodied cognition emphasises the role of gesture and movement in learning and understanding mathematics. Grid Algebra uses movement to direct students’ attention to mathematical operations on numbers and numerical expressions within the grid and the structure of these operations, while the software takes care of the …

Linguistic And Conceptual Transfer: Crosslinguistic Translanguaging In The English-French Bilingual Mathematics Classroom In The Uk, Jo Skelton, Jane Spiro

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This paper presents the findings of a study, conducted as part of a PhD thesis, exploring ways in which translanguaging can be used to support the development of conceptual understanding of division. The study focused on 18 8-9-year-old pupils learning mathematics through the instructional languages of English and French in an ‘immersion-style’ bilingual education context in England. The data was collected from four consecutive mathematics lessons focusing on division, the first two taught through English by a monolingual English teacher and the second two taught in French by a bilingual French teacher. Both teachers were interviewed directly following their second …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Noticing Of The Function Of Mathematical Naming In The Teaching Of Fractions, Juan Manuel González-Forte, Núria Planas

The Mathematics Enthusiast

In this paper, we present the rationale and results of a study conducted with 79 pre-service primary-school teachers on their sensitivities to notice the pedagogic function of naming practices in the language of teaching fractions. Our results are a contribution to noticing research on mathematics teacher education and language. Although participants were not familiar with discussions of the language of teaching mathematics in general and the language of teaching fractions in particular, they engaged in an intervention with a professional task that provided opportunities to notice potential relationships between mathematical naming and the conceptual understanding of fractions. The written answers …

From Words To Worlds: Concluding Reflections And Emerging Directions, Jenni Ingram, Núria Planas, David Pimm

The Mathematics Enthusiast

In concluding the second series of eight articles in the double special issue on ‘Engaging with communication and language in relation to mathematics and its education’, we take the opportunity to reflect across the articles to prompt us all to consider potential and emerging directions for future research. This final article is overall a commentary inspired by the communication-centred and language-centred contributions to mathematics education across the entire collection of articles, that is, all those comments that situate mathematics and its education as language and communication praxis. We explore this relationship between mathematics and its education with communication and language …

Affordances For Graphical Shape Thinking Through Vivid Informal Classroom Talk, Elizabeth Kimber, Cathy Smith

The Mathematics Enthusiast

The shape of a graph arising from the covariation of variables is a crucial idea in reasoning about functions and graphs. Students’ perspectives on graph shape may foreground visual features and consider the shape to be a fixed property of the function (static graphical shape thinking). In contrast, students can perceive the graph as a trace of covarying quantities, through which its shape arises (emergent graphical shape thinking). It is of interest to understand how these perspectives are supported and promoted by teachers in classroom discourse. We present findings from a study of classroom discourse in which we used systemic …

From Uncertainty To Dialogue: Visualising Collaborative Noticing And Mathematical Intuitions In Students' Narratives Within Probability Learning, Daniela Diaz-Rojas

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This study explores the critical role of language and communication in fostering collaborative noticing practices that display mathematical intuitions within probability learning. Through an analysis of student interactions, I show how the joint articulation of ideas and the exploration of shared doubt enable intuition, often perceived as an object that is held and a solitary experience, to become a socially shared and co-constructed process. The observed collaborative dialogue concerns shared content and form, constructing a joint narrative architecture that enables common understanding and allows the group to notice, examine, and reshape their intuitions. Collaborative noticing when working with probability problems …

Teachers’ Knowledge And Use Of Mathematics Register For Teaching And Communication, Pauline Tiong, Sheena Tan

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Research has progressively considered a resource-oriented rather than a deficit-based approach towards understanding the role of language in helping students learn mathematical concepts. Notably, there has been a call for greater attention to the notion of mathematics teaching talk, which focuses on teachers’ use of language as a resource to teach mathematics (and the language of mathematics). It is argued that mathematics teaching talk plays an important role in enabling teachers to communicate mathematical ideas or meanings of mathematical concepts and in turn, preparing students to participate better in mathematical discourse practices. Specifically, this paper seeks to exemplify what teachers …

Affectivity As A Form Of Communication During Interactions Between Parent, Child, And Touchcounts, Qiang Lin

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This qualitative study examines communication in family mathematics settings, focusing on how embodied communication is constituted during parent–child interaction with a multitouch technology application, TouchCounts. Moving beyond information–transmission perspectives, the study adopts an embodied and relational approach centered on affectivity—conceptualized as the circulation of attunement, resonance, and intensity of movement and feeling across human and non-human components of the parent–child–TouchCounts assemblage. Drawing on close qualitative analysis of two selected video-recorded excerpts, the study traces how mathematical events unfold moment by moment through bodily action and material engagement, and how affective flow shapes how participants respond to one …

Documents From The September 16, 2026 Meeting Of The Associated Students Of The University Of Montana (Asum), University Of Montana -- Missoula. Associated Students

Senate Meeting Agendas and Minutes, 2007-Present

Agenda and meeting minutes from the September 16, 2026 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM). No resolutions were made during this meeting.

September 2026 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

My Msw Journey, Kaela Metcalfe

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Reflections In Practice, Joshua William Erickson

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This portfolio narrative documents my professional development through the Master of Social Work program at the University of Montana. It discusses how I've developed my skills through practicum sites at Youth Villages and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) as well as coursework spanning from clinical practice, policy analysis, program evaluation, and community organizing. Using the Five Elements of Advanced Integrated Practice and all ten CSWE competencies as an organizing structure, clinical skills with adolescents, families, and older adults are reflected on. Growth in macro-level practice, program evaluation, and interdisciplinary leadership is …

Professional Portfolio: Becoming A Justice-Centered Practitioner, Akemi Nakagawa

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This professional portfolio reflects my learning through this program, including the knowledge and skills I have developed, how my learning has been shaped by the people I have learned from and alongside, and what I will carry forward into future practice. I share my developing theoretical orientation that guides my thinking and practice, grounded predominantly in the Reproductive Justice framework, Critical Social Work, Janet Finn’s Just Practice framework, and by the work and wisdom of Paulo Freire–particularly his pedagogy of popular education.

This portfolio also reflects my ongoing development as a social worker who is committed to advancing intersectional justice …

Msw Portfolio, Kyle Dyrud

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Transforming Experience Into Practice: A Portfolio Of Growth, Identity, And Leadership, Ana I. Loli

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

This professional portfolio documents the integration of my academic learning, practicum experience, and personal transformation throughout the Master of Social Work program at the University of Montana. Drawing from trauma‑informed, anti-oppressive, and culturally responsive frameworks, I demonstrate competency across micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice, with particular emphasis on ethical decision-making, ADEI engagement, community assessment, policy analysis, research-informed practice, and collaborative leadership. Through narrative reflections and applied artifacts—including case analyses, simulated clinical sessions, community-based research, organizational evaluation, and leadership implementation—I illustrate how meaning, context, power, history, and possibility shape my approach to social work. This portfolio highlights my development …

Umcur 2026 Program Pdf

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This program includes the schedule for oral presentations and posters.

Dissecting Word And Song: Observing The Interplay Between Linguistic Analysis And Ethnomusicology, Dashiell Elliot Schindler

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Ethnomusicology is a subfield within cultural ethnography that aims to provide detailed, descriptive analysis on contemporary music culture, applying cross cultural comparison to trace musical lineages and identify sounds significant to a select society. The field serves as an interdisciplinary measure to accurately index musical styles that serve as a cultural marker to the heritage to which they are ascribed. Linguistic analysis aspires to many of the same goals. It is one of the four major disciplines within anthropology, and has its sights focused critically on the examination of language in its spoken form. Linguists apply research methods such as …

Documenting Supportive Communication Strategies In Prom Administration For Persons With Aphasia, Tyra Kucinski

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Documenting Supportive Communication Strategies in PROM Administration for Persons With Aphasia

Tyra Kucinski, Allison Marr, Emilia Waters

Introduction: Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that impairs speaking, listening, writing, and/or reading, with intelligence remaining intact. Aphasia also disrupts mental health, quality of life, and communicative participation. Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) are standardized questionnaires that allow patients to reflect on their functional health status, providing insight into how persons with aphasia (PWAs) perceive their condition and/or the treatment they are receiving. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) frequently provide a number of supportive communication strategies to ensure accuracy of patient responses on PROMs …

Representation And Placement Of Emerging Bilinguals In Gifted Education, Morgan Bailey

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The underrepresentation of bilingual students and students from diverse cultural backgrounds in gifted education programs remains a persistent equity concern in the United States. As of 2021, 10% of public school students were emerging bilinguals, yet they comprise only 3% of gifted education classrooms (Serrano, 2019). This disparity highlights systemic barriers in identification and placement practices.

This presentation will provide a comprehensive review of research on gifted identification practices and their impact on emerging bilinguals, with the goal of promoting increased equity in education and improving understanding of how better practices can be implemented.

Sources include peer-reviewed journal articles from …

Benefits And Challenges Of The Use Of Narrative Texts In Linguistic Analysis, Logan J. Sites

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

In this presentation, I consider some benefits and issues of the use of narrative texts for linguistic research. The discussion is framed by the analysis of the Séliš-Ql̓ispé suffix -m based on narratives transcribed by Hans Vogt in 1937. The stories were recounted by One-Eyed Tom and translated into English for Vogt by Joe Abrahamson. The data in this presentation is taken from Camp 2007 and Ward 2008, two interlinearizations (morpheme by morpheme analyses) of several of the Vogt texts. The analysis of -m provides an opportunity to demonstrate the usefulness of narratives in linguistic work, as Camp (2007) and …

Mathematics In Maltese: The Compilation Of A Bilingual English-Maltese Glossary To Support Mathematics Teaching And Learning In Malta, Marie Theresa Farrugia, Lara Ann Vella, David Muscat, Melanie Casha Sammut

The Mathematics Enthusiast

In Malta, mathematics education is accessed bilingually through Maltese and English. While Maltese is often used for verbal interaction, English is the language of written texts, including assessments. Consequently, switches between the languages is a common feature of Maltese mathematics classrooms. Anecdotal and research evidence indicate that Maltese students benefit from the use of their home language. However, to date, there is no recognised and standardised Maltese bank of mathematics Our project aims to address this lacuna. In this article, we outline the process of compiling a bilingual glossary of mathematics terms intended for kindergarten and elementary school levels in …

Trialoguing About Engaging With Communication And Language In Relation To Mathematics And Its Education, David Pimm, Jenni Ingram, Núria Planas

The Mathematics Enthusiast

This is our introduction to the series of eight articles in the first part of the double special issue on the challenges of ‘Engaging with communication and language in relation to mathematics and its education’. In the current article, we think together about ‘communication’ and ‘language’ in relation to mathematics and its education, by turning to reflections and examples from our decades of work as researchers and teacher educators, and in response to the articles in this first part. Following the preamble, most reflections are presented in the form of a fresh trialogue, through which we share some perspectives and …

Equals In The Wild: How Mathematical Equality Is Talked About In Lessons, Robert Ward-Penny, Jenni Ingram, Kirstin Erath, Elizabeth Kimber, Núria Planas

The Mathematics Enthusiast

Equality is a nuanced concept in mathematics, and the equals sign is used and interpreted in different ways. During professional development in language-responsive teaching, a group of teachers discussed the use of ‘equals’ in algebra lessons. This article considers how three of these teachers went on to invoke equality in their classroom interactions when teaching other topics. The cases observed suggest constructive resonances between conceptions of ‘equals’ and geometric relationships, and include examples of teachers balancing precision with fluency. We argue that attention to language in one mathematical topic may extend helpfully to other topics, but this is not automatic.

A Prospective Mathematics Teacher’S Shifts In Tone Of Language From Ineffective To Effective Written Feedback On A Pupil’S Project, Samet Okumus

The Mathematics Enthusiast

In the present study, I analyze data from a prospective mathematics teacher, Oya, and her shift in the tone of language used in self-perceived ineffective and effective written feedback on a real pupil’s mathematics project. The results indicate that, in her ineffective feedback, Oya primarily provides neutral and negative responses, often highlighting the pupil’s mistakes in a harsh and judgmental manner. In contrast, her effective feedback demonstrates a wider range of tones, including a substantial amount of neutral feedback as well as solution-oriented comments. The study underscores the importance of tone in feedback, emphasizing how different language use and word …

An Operational Framework For Integrating Content, Cognition And Language Into Planning For Aen Mathematics Learners Within A Clil Context, Máire Ní Ríordáin, Craig Neville

The Mathematics Enthusiast

The growing diversity in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms, particularly the inclusion of Additional Educational Needs (AEN) learners, highlights an urgent need for research addressing their unique challenges. These students often face compounded difficulties, navigating the dual demands of mastering subject content and developing proficiency in the instructional language, with limited frameworks to support their needs. This article presents an operational framework for integrating content, cognition, and language into planning mathematics education for AEN learners. Grounded in theoretical approaches such as communicative competence, CAPA, and pluriliteracies, the framework addresses key challenges in developing mathematical literacy. The framework provides …

Teaching Talk Moves To Support The Discussion Of Divisibility Content In A Trilingual Classroom, Miquel Morell, Núria Planas

The Mathematics Enthusiast

In this article, we present our study of teaching talk moves and translanguaging practices used to support the discussion of divisibility in a Catalan–Spanish–English trilingual classroom of a secondary school. We examined a sequence of eleven lessons with a focus on seven talk moves – Switching languages, Revoicing, Recapping, Adding on, Focusing, Funneling and Eliciting. Through this we were able to identify some teaching episodes in which the attention was given to discussing specific mathematical–linguistic challenges involved in the learning and understanding of divisibility content. We illustrate this finding using an episode around the least common multiple and how interconnected …

Genre-Based Socialization Practices In Teaching And Learning Of Geometric Proof In Language Diverse Classrooms, Rabih El Mouhayar, Richard Barwell

The Mathematics Enthusiast

The present study reports on analysis of how two teachers in Lebanon, and their students navigated the learning and teaching of geometric proof in English, in a context in which Lebanese Arabic is the language of home and wider society. One of the teachers taught in a public school, the other in a private school. The study focuses on language socialization practices in the two grade-seven classrooms, in relation to the specific genre of geometric proof. The focus is not directly on proving as a cognitive process; rather, the study explores the interactional process of interpreting and constructing geometric proofs …

Functional Neuroarchitecture Of Brain Activation And Network Organization In Bilinguals During Native And Second Language Processing, Onila Rasanjala Narayana Mudalige Don

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Bilingual language processing requires the coordinated engagement of large-scale brain networks, yet how these networks dynamically reorganize across native (L1) and second language (L2) use—and how this reorganization depends on language proficiency—remains poorly understood. Traditional fMRI studies often characterize brain connectivity as static, overlooking moment-to-moment fluctuations in network interactions that may be critical for successful second-language processing.

In this study, we investigated dynamic brain network organization in Spanish–Basque bilinguals performing a semantic animacy judgment task in their native (Spanish) and second (Basque) language. Using Independent Component Analysis (ICA), we identified large-scale functional networks engaged during L1 and L2 processing and …

There Is No Intonation Rule For Yes-No Questions In Blackfoot, Chance Lockwood

UM Graduate Student Research Conference (GradCon)

Cross-linguistically, the intonation of questions differs from the intonation of their declarative counterparts. For example, the intonation of an English question is normally raised at the end of the sentence, while the intonation of a statement is not. Also, in some languages the range of pitch is greater in questions than in statements. However, to my knowledge there are no intonation studies on Blackfoot that focus on questions, only on other elements of intonation, such as pitch movement, stress predictability, and rhythm. Using Praat, a program designed for acoustic speech analysis, I examined the intonation patterns of 19 statement-question pairs …