The philosophy of mathematics education
Confrontation with and accommodation to socially accepted or objective features of
Language the acquisition of linguistic competence results from a prolonged period of
Social interaction during this period by dint of repeated utterance and correction
Individuals construct subjective theories or personal representations of the rules and
Conventions underpinning shared language use the viability of these theories is a
Function of their mode of development Quine refers to the objective pull which
Brings about adequate levels of agreement between individuals utterances and
Behavior
Society acting solely on overt manifestations has been able to train the
Individual to say the socially proper thing in response even to socially
Undetectable stimulations
Halliday 1978 describes linguistic competency in terms of mastery of three inter
Locking systems namely the forms the meanings and the (social) functions of
Language of these language forms and functions are publicly manifested systems
Which thus lend themselves to correction and agreement whilst the system of
Meanings is private the other systems ensure that where they impact on public
Behavior there is pull towards agreement
The uniformity that unites us in communication and belief is uniformity
Of resultant patterns overlying a chaotic subjective diversity of connections
Between words and experience uniformity comes where it matters
Socially… different persons growing up in the same language are like
Different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical
Elephants the anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfil the
Elephantine from differently from bush to bush to bush but the overall outward
Results are alike
What has been provided is an account of how individuals acquire (or rather construct)
Subjective knowledge including knowledge of language the two koy features of the
Account are as follows first of all there is the active construction of knowledge
Typically concepts and hypotheses on the basis of experiences and previous knowledge
These provide a basis for understanding and serve the purpose of guiding future
actions. Secondly , there is the essential role played by experience and interaction with
the physical and social worlds , in both the physical actions and speech modes. This
experience constitutes the intended use of the knowledge , but it provides the conflicts
between intended and perceived outcomes which load to the restructuring of
knowledge, to improve its fit with experience. The shaping effect of experience, to use
Quine’s metaphor, must not be underestimated. For this is where the full impact of
human culture occurs, and where the rules and conventions of language use are
constructed by individuals, with the extensive functional outcomes manifested around
us in huntan society.
Banersfeld describes this theory as the niadlie nalnre of luntan knowledge: