History of Mathematics in Mathematics Education : a Saussurean Perspective

It is not only because of a certain eclecticism in mathematics education research that semiotic ideas have begun to take root there: it is also because of the dawning recognition that key areas of interest in mathematics education genuinely have a semiotic nature. For this, one need only point to research focused on meaning, communication, language, and culture (e.g., Presmeg, 1997; Ernest,1997; Radford, 2001; Brown, 2001). The ways in which semiotics informs cultural aspects of mathematics education, particularly those connected with the history of mathematics, were highlighted in a discussion session at the 2003 meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME27). The present paper continues the theme of the PME27 semiotics session by considering how semiotics can help clarify a problematic aspect of combining history of mathematics and mathematics education.