Students colloquial and mathematical discourses on infinity and limit: The case of an American and a Korean student

Abstract

The purpose of this study is on the relationships between students

uses and understandings of the notions of infinity and limit in both

colloquial and mathematical discourses. How students colloquial

discourse on infinity and limit correlates with their mathematical

discourse, in the case of an American and a Korean student, will be

analyzed based on three distinctive features of mathematical discourses:

mathematical uses of words, discursive routines, and endorsed

narratives. According to the results of the current study, colloquial

discourse seems to correlate with mathematical discourse because of

certain clear relationships between the colloquial and mathematical

discourses of the American and Korean students on infinity and limit.