ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with how the use of mathematical vocabulary is pursued through classroom talk around a publicly shared figure. In such situations, we identify student turns that are accepted by the teacher, but others that are problematised in the teacher turn that follows. We also highlight a further dimension: whether the acceptance or the form of problematisation is in the context of the image being treated as a particular or a generic example. This refines the notion of pursuing vocabulary per se, and proposes the possibility of doing so in a way that promotes students generalising beyond the properties of a particular shared figure.
