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Strengthening language through first language mathematics education

ORCiD logo with link | Charles Darwin University
 | Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic Primary School
 | Umbakumba School
 | Charles Darwin University | Australian National University
 | Areyonga School
 | Areyonga School
 | University of Melbourne | Charles Darwin University
 | Areyonga School
 | Areyonga School
 | Areyonga School
 | University of Surrey | Northern Territory Department of Education and Training
 | Umbakumba School
 | Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic Primary School
 | University of Melbourne
 | Milyakburra School
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

This article was made Open Access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license through payment of an APC by or on behalf of the authors.

Published online: 13 January 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.25034.edm
Abstract
The Mathematics in Indigenous Languages project seeks to design and deliver mathematics education in Indigenous languages in remote Northern Territory schools. We work collaboratively as a team of researchers in linguistics and education, and school-based educators from three language groups: Pitjantjatjara, Tiwi and Anindilyakwa. This paper focuses on how teaching mathematics through First Nations children’s first language also contributes to broader language maintenance goals. We take a strengths-based approach, identifying the existing mathematical affordances of the languages. This involves the identification and development of a mathematics register, undertaken in collaboration with Elders and knowledge holders. Often, there is appropriate traditional terminology, predating colonial contact, which can be used. However, in some cases the children may not know this and may be using English or Kriol equivalents only. In other cases, traditional terminology is extended metaphorically to new domains. The mathematics classroom also provides children with opportunities for rich oral language use and increases the value of adult speakers in the school. Through this project we are developing a concrete pathway for intergenerational knowledge transmission in this high-status domain.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Language vitality and schools
    • 2.2Australian languages in Northern Territory schools
    • 2.3Mathematics in Indigenous languages
  • 3.The Mathematics in Indigenous Languages Project
  • 4.Our schools and languages
    • 4.1Pitjantjatjara / Areyonga School
    • 4.2Tiwi/Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic Primary School
    • 4.3Anindilyakwa/Groote Eylandt Archipelago
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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