ABSTRACT
The Chinese classrooms where Chinese teachers had learned mathematics and where they were teaching were on the face of it very traditional in form. The teaching is based on textbook and the children sit in rows facing the teacher, who takes the lead and sets the agenda. This chapter focuses on the way in which language is used when pupils construct meanings with the aid of the teacher in order to emphasise how people own subject knowledge and people knowledge of learners will interact when people begin teaching. The point is that not only do competent mathematicians communicate using precise and specialised words and language forms, but that in order to learn mathematics there needs to be a building up of understanding through talk and listening. The role of language in learning mathematics is much more than just learning the correct vocabulary.
